Personal Responsibility

Oh. My. God. This is the kind of crap that makes me want to move to Barbuda, I swear.

Yesterday, I actually stole a few minutes away to watch "Good Morning America." They did a feature about a woman - a laywer - who used to be extremely sucessful - large income, big clients, etc. She started taking weekend trips to Las Vegas with friends, and got into gambling. The weekend trips turned into week-long trips. And then multi-week trips. In the end, she was literally sitting at the tables for DAYS at a time, with no sleep and no meals. She was brushing her teeth with baby wipes, and the poor waitresses were so worried about her that they were bringing her fruit juice and crackers so that she wouldn't collapse at the table. Needless to say, this woman, who is clearly addicted to gambling, lost everything and then some.

So how does she begin to pick up the pieces of her life? Does she attend Gambler's Anonymous? Maybe. Does she stop going to Vegas? Yes. But what is her REAL PLAN for getting a leg back up?

SHE'S SUING THE CASINOS. Yes, that's right folks. Apparently the casinos - whose whole purpose for existence is to provide entertainment to people while making money - these casinos LET HER GAMBLE!!! They LET HER LOSE ALL OF HER MONEY!!! How dare they?

Someone correct me if I am out of line here, but to my knowledge no one at the casino put a gun to her head and made her sit at those tables. No one pushed her hand into her pocket for the ATM card to get more money. No one went onto the computer for her and booked her airline tickets to sin city. Yes, she has an addiction. But is that the casino's fault? No, no, no. Millions of people gamble for fun and entertainment every week in Veags without serious problems.

But this chick refuses to take PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY for her own actions. Instead, she wants someonw else (the casinos) to be to blame for her own illness, lack of discipline, and poor decision making.

And really, isn't this at the root of many of the probelms we're having in America today? Nothing is anyone's fault - someone else is ALWAYS to blame. How DARE McDonald's serve hot coffee that is actually hot? It's obvioulsy THEIR fault that dumbass spills it on himself and gets burned. And all the fast food places...they obviously strive to make people fat on purpose. It's THEIR fault that Bubba eats Whoppers 7 days a week, and supersizes even his ketchup packets.

You know what? I am not a supermodel. (Gasp - I know. Try to contain your shock and disappointment...) I weigh more than I ideally should. Do you know why? Because I CHOSE to have pizza for dinner last night. Because I CHOOSE to exercise only 3-4 times a week, instead of 5-6. Because I CHOOSE to eat bread and drink beer. Is it Budweiser's fault that I am flabby? Absolutely not. It's MY FAULT. I make these choices, and I live with the consequences of these choices.

My mom made me learn this lesson very, very young. When I was about 5, I stole a piece of candy from the little candy store up the street from my house. The store was owned by a sweet little old man, who later turned most of the store into an arcade. When my mom discovered what I did, she marched me back to the store. Then I - crying hysterically - had to explain EXACTLY what I did, and then apologize. (Kids always cry when they are guilty. Actually, lots of adults do too.) Little old candy man of course crumpled at the site of my tears, and told me it was OK - I could keep the candy. But of course my evil mother intervened, and it was not to be. Another incident happened on the school bus. I think I was throwing paper or something - I don't remember. But I got in trouble. My mom (who was the school secretary) marched me into Mr. Massey's office. (Mr. Massey was the dreaded elementary school principal. It was rumored that he had this larger-than-life paddle with holes drilled into it. The holes made it hurt more when you got paddled. Oh - the fabulous days of corporal punishment. The funny thing is, I don't think anyone ever actually GOT paddled. It was the FEAR of the paddling that made the difference. But I digress...) Anyway, I had to march into Mr. Massey's office - again, bawling - and tell him exactly what I did and apologize. Now Mr. Massey, after years of being exposed to guilty crocodile tears, was immune to them. He gave me a stern warning and the "disappointed in you" speech. I am pretty sure I never got in any serious trouble again until high school.

So it all goes full circle. Today, Brenda's mommy won'accept that little Brenda could possibly do anything wrong. When little Brenda is busted throwing paperballs on the bus, Brenda's mommy marches into the principal's office and demands to know why HER little angel is accused of such a heinous offense. OBVIOUSLY is was little Jimmy's fault - he started it. And that bus driver - she's always hated litle Brenda since day one. And where does the Principal find these employees, anyway? The bus is FULL of hoodlums whose parents don't properly discipline them, and all of that bad influence is rubbing off on little Brenda. If little Brenda isn't excused from all of these trumped-up charges, Brenda's mommy is going to write letters to the Governor and every newspaper in the area, pointing out the Principal's gross incompetence. Then Brenda's mommy is going to go to the School Board and demand an apology to little Brenda. In 99% of the cases, the School Board will actually make the Principal apologize to Brenda and her mommy. Then 25 years later, Brenda is suing the casinos because she was stupid and lost all her money at Blackjack.

Beautiful.

All I can hope is that some judge gets the case and tosses the woman out on her blackjack-table-seat-flattened ass. But I wouldn't bet on it...