Accountability & Responsibility

Mel Gibson was recently quoted as saying that apologizing for his drunken behavior and subsequent arrest was "getting old."

Here are my two cents. I am not an advocate for flogging a person their entire life for a mistake, but I am one for accountability and responsibility. That's part of being an adult.

For those of you who know me, here comes my favorite soapbox: There are consequences to one's actions. Some are more life altering than others. The adult part is where one acknowledges that fact. Sometimes a trust is shattered, or at least seriously dented. Sometimes it changes you as a person and how others perceive you. Permanently.

I know someone who may have committed adultery. By this I mean, there was a definite relationship but whether or not it was consummated is up for debate. There were letters indicating intent. Whatever. The fact remains that a relationship existed with full knowledge that it was wrong and damaging to a marriage and a family. And the person grouses that it keeps being thrown in his/her face.

Deal with it. No one held a gun to your head and made you make the choices that lead to your downfall. If the fact that everyone now sees you as adulterer, that is your consequence, your cross to bear.

And dear, dear Mel: I know you are an alcoholic. That does not change the fact that you did something that hurt people. Maybe your test in humility is to keep being humbled, to keep apologizing. For the people who didn't hear you the first time, keep apologizing until they get it.

Because just maybe, if you don't, you were not humbled enough. Heaven only knows, there are few enough saints in this world. But we are supposed to emulate them, be guided by them, and be inspired by what a mere mortal can do.

Just my two cents worth.