Own It

When did people stop being responsible for their own actions?

I’ve never been addicted to any type of drug, so I realize I’m not speaking from the most knowledgeable point of view, but still. Are we a bunch of animals that can’t be held accountable for anything we do?

It blows my mind that people who are alcoholics can’t get fired from their job because alcoholism is a “disability” and the company can be sued if they fire someone for being a drunk while on the clock. Yes, seriously. It happens. Or I guess I should say it (being fired) doesn’t happen.

Um, pardon my French, but did you not put the bottle to your lips and gulp it down? Did someone hold a gun to your head and force you into a constant state of inebriation? Oh, you just wanted it really bad. Well, I want Little Debbie Cakes really bad, and when I eat one and gain another 10 pounds, you don’t see me suing Little Debbie for giving me the disability of fatness.

And why can people erase entire weeks, months, even years, from their lives and blame it on a particular medication or feigned illness?

Hmm, I can’t be held responsible for anything I said or did for the past five months because I was sick…..OR……I was on some type of medication.

Yes, I do know that some medications can alter your mood, but do you still not make a decision to behave like a child or act like a lunatic? Or do you become possessed by a devil? That must be it. The devil. That’s why you’re not responsible for your actions.

Right.

When I was in high school I took diet pills like every other teenage girl with body issues (who should have embraced the awesome bod she had while it was still rather toned and youthful—ahh, hindsight’s 20/20). My step-mom was obsessed that the diet pills made me irritable. Anything I did or said was attributed to the diet pills and my monster-like behavior because of them.

I stopped taking them, but I didn’t tell anyone. I maintain that I’m a bitch anytime. Yeah, diet pills might make me a little bit bitchier, but it’s not like I’m a gentle, kind girl in the first place. I was making decisions to show my irritation. I didn’t have to snap at casual criticisms, but I did. I could have kept my mouth shut. But I didn’t want to. Either way, it was my decision to behave the way I did.

Three weeks later, I was still being accused of behaving like a witch because I was on diet pills.

It made me really happy to say “Actually, I haven’t taken a diet pill in three weeks.” See, I’m naturally bitchy.

I’m totally responsible for all my actions. Yeah, I might fly off the handle every now and then, but the whole time I’m raging, I’m aware of what I’m doing. Those who say otherwise need to be at bit more honest with themselves.