When something negative happens, – we have one of two choices – we can either try to find somebody to blame or we can see how the situation might be used for something constructive.
William Freis lives in Nebraska and has sued Walmart because he felt Walmart was responsible for his wife’s death. As she was shopping one day the cashier put two 42-ounce cans of La Choy and a 2-pound bag of rice in a plastic bag. While Lynette was carrying the bag, it ripped and the falling La Choy made a cut on her toe. He claims it became infected and ultimately resulted in her death 11 months later. He blames her death on Walmart.
We all remember the blackout during the 2013 Super Bowl in the New Orleans Superdome. This caused a 34-minute delay in the game. Some people are blaming that outage on the fact that the Superdome is cursed because it was built on the site of a 19th century cemetery. I am not sure who San Francisco is blaming for their losing the game!
Some Japanese persons are blaming their fate on the lines in their hands. They are having plastic surgery to change the lines that are supposedly governing their life. Plastic surgeon Takaaki Matsuoka charges $1,000 for the 10 minute operation. He says that most male patients want to change the lines associated with money and business while women want to change their love lines. He claims that if a woman missed her chance to get married, “we can add another line for marriage.”
Ruben Pavon was caught on a surveillance camera removing a grill and a DVD player from a store named “Finders Keepers.” He claims that he did not realize he was supposed to pay for the items. He said that he thought the name of the store, “Finders Keepers,” meant that it was there for the taking. He is claiming that he is not guilty of shop lifting. The store owner, Laura Barker, says that if she could find a store that was giving away merchandise, “I’d be there on a regular basis myself.”
William Ilg protested that he was liable for $28,000 he spent one night in a club. He claimed that the staff at the “Hustler Club” got him so drunk that he was “no longer capable of conducting transactions.” A New York judge has thrown out his case ruling that the club had no duty “to protect the plaintiff from the results of his intoxication.”
While we might be amused at the above instances sited in the news in recent days, it is a good time to look at our own lives and see if we are placing blame or taking responsibility.
The blame game goes all the way back to the first man and woman, Adam and Eve who disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden. When God came to confront them, Adam tried to blame Eve and Eve tried to blame the snake. (Genesis 3)
The most positive way to deal with a mistake is to assume responsibility and ask how you might do something creative in that situation. Fixing the blame doesn’t fix the problem!
Who’s to blame is the wrong question!
