The Blame Game

Little Bobby isn't crazy.  He just listens to heavy metal music too much.
Little Janie isn't cruel.  She just sits too close to the TV.
Mr. Smith didn't know what to do because he was neglected as a child.
Ms. Jones didn't mean to be careless but the baby wouldn't stop crying.

Have you ever felt like you were the only responsible person on the planet?

I'll be the first to admit that hindsight is always 20/20 and that judging a situation from a birds-eye view gives one an unfair advantage but geeeeeez I am really getting tired of seeing people NOT stepping up to the podium and saying "this is all on me.  I did this.  I am fully to blame for what happened."

It's so much easier to deflect that glaring hot spotlight.   "This is all on me.  I did this.  I am fully to blame for what happened" is all too often followed by a single word.

But.

"but I haven't slept in more than a week."  "but I didn't FEEL drunk."  "but I didn't think people would believe me so I just didn't say anything."  "but I didn't think anyone would notice the money was missing."  It starts out about someone else getting the short end of the stick but then the responsible party turns the spotlight back on themselves as being the unsung victim.

From mothers to murderers to friends to fathers, from coaches and co-eds, bullies and braggarts, robbers and rapists, and every other kind of so-called "misunderstood" human who has ever gone haywire.  The most miserable wretch ... the lowest form of homosapien ... the weakest link on the ladder that is the genetic code that creates every man or woman ........ they do something incredibly stupid or terrifically horrible and expect to be shown pity or leniency or mercy that they were unable (or unwilling) to show to their victim.

Mahatma Gandhi is credited for saying "an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind".  Gandhi is also credited for this:  "There have been tyrants, and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall.  Think of it -- always."

If it makes you feel any better, even Gandhi had limits ... this is also his:  "I believe in equality for everyone, except reporters and photographers."