Responsibility And A Lack Thereof

I get a lot of e-mail. Not counting the forwarded jokes, cartoons and conspiracy theories, missives from hot horny college girls who want my portly posterior, and that nice man in Africa who wants to share his $20 million dollars with me, I get at between 30 and 50 e-mails on an average day. Sometimes just wading through them is a real job, and though I try to answer every one, there are times I just can’t.

Two recent letters that stand out seem to describe the extremes between taking responsibility too far and not having any at all.

The first was from a couple who adopted a four year old Sheltie when they were visiting their daughter and grandkids back around Thanksgiving. They said they are really not pet people but that they felt sorry for the dog because the woman at the shelter told them it was a “problem animal” and was going to be put down that day. According to them, the dog snarls and snaps at them every time they get near it and has drawn blood a couple of times. They said it has marked everything in the motorhome and has also chewed the armrests up on the driver and passenger chairs and the sofa, doing over $2,000 in damage.

I wrote back and told them that I would not keep an animal like that, but they said that even though they don’t like the dog, they feel responsible for it and just can’t stand the idea of taking it to a shelter where it will probably be put down. All I can say is that they are better human beings than I am.

Now let’s look at another couple who wrote to tell me about a Florida RV park that they say is terrible and needs to be avoided. They are fulltiming with three kids age seven and under, and both have taken jobs for the winter. They said that they were promised different shifts, but that has not worked out so they had to hire a babysitter for their children when they are working.

According to them, last week the campground manager called them at work and told them they had 30 minutes to come back and take charge of their children or she would call child protective services. Apparently the 16 year old babysitter had invited three of her friends to the campground and they were sunning themselves at the pool and not paying a lot of attention to the kids. The mother was incensed that the manager called her home from work and threatened to contact the authorities because she felt that the kids were not being properly cared for. One thing led to another, and the manager gave them their money back and told them to be out of the campground by the end of the day.

“It’s not our fault that the babysitter didn’t do as she was told,” the mother said in response to my e-mail reply. “And no, we didn’t let anyone know we were having someone from outside come in to babysit because they have a rule that guests must be with us when on the grounds.”

So she wants me to tell the world that this campground manager, who enforced the existing rules and made her come home and take charge of her children, is the bad guy. I don’t think so! We know a number of fulltiming families and I can’t picture any of those parents being so irresponsible. I hope wherever these people went, it wasn’t to a campground near me!

So far over 130 people have signed up for this week’s Free Drawing for an audiobook of Birdsongs, by my friend Jason Deas. It’s the first book in Jason’s excellent Benny James mystery series, a fast-paced mystery centered on former FBI agent Benny James, who hoped to retire to a slower paced lifestyle on a houseboat but finds himself drawn into a murder investigation. All you have to do is click this Free Drawing link and enter your name in the comments section at the bottom of that page (not this one). Only one entry per person per drawing please, and you must enter with your real name. To prevent spam or multiple entries, the names of cartoon or movie characters are not allowed. The winner will be drawn Sunday evening.

Another good book by a romance author friend of mine, Mona Ingram, is Loving From Afar from her The Women of Independence series. The book is currently #1 in its category and is free on Amazon. Check it out.

And I have to brag. Last night someone just pointed out that my name is number 50 on the list of the Top 100 authors of Thrillers on Amazon. I don’t know how long it will stay there, but it’s quite a thrill!

Can you believe that we have Bad Nick blogs two days in a row? Either he’s quiet for weeks on end or he just won’t shut up. Check out Thugs, Punks, and Fatties Too! and leave a comment.

Thought For The Day – Don’t waste your time arguing with idiots. They’ll never get it. That’s why they’re idiots.

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