THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, February 23, 1996 TAG: 9602230002
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 27 lines
The Feb. 11 article about a Florida city worker killing five of his former co-workers before turning the gun on himself and committing suicide is yet another example, like the infamous McDonald's-coffee lawsuit, of Americans refusing to take responsibility for their actions. The city worker, instead of accepting that he lost his job because of his drug usage, sought to place blame on the company and individuals who fired him and then struck against that perceived wrong with murderous rage.
Life is all about risks and accepting the consequences of those risks - which means accepting my clumsiness if I happen to spill coffee on myself, or accepting the choices I made if I lose my job after choosing to violate company rules. If we can't learn to accept responsibility for our actions, very soon what we call America will not be anyone's dream. BILL BOEMANNS
Chesapeake, Feb. 11, 1996 by CNB