Taking Responsibility

Good day, good people.

“If an American is to amount to anything he must rely upon himself, and not upon the State; he must take pride in his own work, instead of sitting idle to envy the luck of others. He must face life with resolute courage, win victory if he can, and accept defeat if he must, without seeking to place on his fellow man a responsibility which is not theirs.” Theodore Roosevelt

For devotees of the English language: Grobian is a noun. It means a rude or boorish person.

The Transportation Security Administration, TSA, protects the nation’s transportation systems to ensure freedom of movement for people and commerce.

I was going through security at the international terminal. There were TSA employees removing items from passengers’-carryon luggage. The passengers were not happy. Two of the passengers were dissatisfied with the confiscations, and they gave their unsolicited opinions to the employees regarding their conduct. The passengers were on one side of the table and the employees were on the other side with their luggage between. The items confiscated were large Crest and other toothpaste tubes, water bottles labeled Arrowhead, shaving cream in a large tube and bottles of mouthwash.

I heard the employees ask the passengers, “What do you want me to do with these items, put them in the trash or give them away?”

One passenger chose trash and the other chose give them away. Both passengers did so grudgingly and attached to their decisions were words of denigration and derision. The passengers were blaming someone else for the problems they had created — they were grobians.

While I watched the two episodes, I thought of Theodore Roosevelt’s quotation above. If the passengers had taken the time to determine the rules and abided by them, they would not have suffered the temporary inconveniences of watching the employees going back and forth putting the luggage through the x-ray machine. Then after they arrived at their destinations, the passengers would not have had the opportunity to make a side trip and stop at a drugstore to replenish their confiscated items — assuming they could.

People wish to have carryon luggage because of the hazards, destruction and theft, and the never ending fees related to checking your luggage and not having it appear at baggage claim when you arrive to claim it. The other good news is: the airlines do not compensate adequately for the losses or pay for your inconvenience.

It is never possible to determine the true character of another person. If you voted for a politician whom took a bribe, not disguised as a campaign contribution, from a corporation, entity or special-interest group before or after he or she was in office for his vote to benefit the donor and he gave it, should you take responsibility for the actions of the corruptician?

Mayor Michael Bloomberg put it simply when he said, “And when the guy says, ‘Yes, I took money, but it didn’t influence my vote’? Oh, come on. The company that’s giving you the money thinks it is going to influence the vote. Why else would they give you the money?” Not for good governing or the for the benefit of the American people for sure. Bloomberg added, “In Washington, they, corrupticians, do take money . . . from the same people they regulate.”

Abraham Lincoln said, “You can fool all the people some of the time, some of the people all of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.”

I am pleased to see the American voter was smart and did not allow money to buy an election. The unfortunate part is: Karl Rove, Ed Gillispie, the brothers Koch and other wealthy people hiding in 501©4s, social organizations, tried to buy the election. It forced the Democrats to spend an equal amount to defend themselves against the money tsunami. This election cycle cost about six billion dollars — a wasteful and obscene amount of money. It could have been put to better use. We must find a way, public funding and the defeat of the Citizens United decision to correct this situation.

What is your thought on blaming others for problems you create, if you do?

I hope this article will give you something to consider and discuss. To be successful you must understand other people’s opinions and care about them.

I care about your opinion. Contacting me with comments and constructive criticisms at Daniel McNeet with honesty and pleasantness their constant companions will always be welcomed.

Trapped