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by Donald B. Ardell, Ph. D.
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Wellness in the Headlines
(Don's Report to the World)

A World-Class Case of NOT Taking Responsibility

Sunday October 14, 2001

On several occasions, I have reported on court cases that illustrate the unfortunate trend in America of the legal system encouraging people to shift responsibility to someone else for their own misdeeds, errors or failures to act wisely. We all make mistakes; the best course of action after doing so is to acknowledge the error, contemplate the lessons to be learned and move on with life. Some people, however, find that the legal system allows them a good chance to avoid consequences for their most serious errors. A dramatic instance of this situation was seen in an infamous incident involving a Northwest Airlines flight from Fargo, N.D. to Minneapolis-St. Paul. In this case, as you might recall, the three pilots were drunk! Really. They were, of course, fired, which leads to the really amazing part of this story.

The two dismissed flight crewmembers claim they were not responsible! Yes, believe it or not, the pilots fired by the airline (whose licenses were revoked by the FAA) appealed on the grounds that the company and/or the FAA should have stopped them from taking off, sloshed, from Fargo. They claimed that it was not their fault that they drank too much, or flew intoxicated.

The virus of "Notmyfaultism," a disease spread by our legal system designed by and for the benefit of lawyers, is hazardous to your health and mine. It invites people to choose blame and excuses rather than to embrace accountability for their choices. The only good that comes from this sort of thing is that it provides a good chuckle when it hits ludicrous depths of silliness as in this case with the enterprising but jejune defense of the NW pilots. Unfortunately, the harm it does to the society far outweighs the benefits of the humor involved.

Please stay vigilant and ever alert for examples like this that reflect abuses and acts of howling vandalism against the public good, or "Notmyfaultism."

By the way, it was something of a pity that these pilots were employed by the one airline that single-handedly contributed so much to the good health of the traveling public. The company, you might recall, banned in-flight smoking at least a year before the Congress did so. One reason the airlines went along with this legislation as it made its way through the political process was the fact that Northwest's earnings per share of stock went up 145 percent in the first quarter after its ban, compared with 10 to 12 percent increases for other airlines. (Source: The Chronicle of Higher Education, 3/28/90, p.A12.)

Be well, have fun and look on the bright side of life.

Domain: mental
Subdomain: effective decisions

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