Personal Responsibility

To the Editor:

I am writing in response to the letter of April 4 from Sharon Lucsky commenting on Tracy Van Buskirk’s March 30 letter concerning accepting responsibility for one’s actions. I have a strong feeling that the real point of Ms Van Buskirk’s letter was overlooked in an outpouring of impassioned feelings about Newtown’s highway department, town government, taxes, etc. While it’s possible to endlessly debate town road maintenance, I feel that personal responsibility is the real issue here.

We all take risks, large and small, each day. Our world is full of uncertainty. We can trip over the morning paper, scald ourselves with our McDonalds’ coffee, or lose control of our vehicle on an icy road. Such incidents may be avoidable if we take some extra care.

Attaching blame to another individual or to an institution is not the answer for our troubles.

I was happy to read April Wright’s warning to other students to exercise caution when driving on icy roads. This is New England. It’s winter. The roads are icy. No one should ever assume that their town has given them near perfect conditions on which to drive. That assumption would constitute negligence on the part of the individual. In the words of British author Allan Massie, “We are responsible for actions performed in response to circumstances for which we are not responsible.”

In an era where people seem willing to blame the media because their children are shooting each other, or sue the town because they slipped on some stairs, I think it is time to stop and look into the mirror and ask ourselves who is really responsible.

Sincerely, _Joan Velush

Berkshire Road, Sandy Hook                                      April 10, 2001