Jimbo 0 #1 September 4, 2004 "Personal responsibility" is a term that we skydivers love to toss around, sometimes you'd think it was skydivers who made up the term. Today I got to thinking, what exactly does personal responsibility mean to me? What does it mean to others? Personal responsibility means a few things to me; first and foremost it means that I must make, when given multiple choices, the responsible choice. That choice is usually the one that is least likely to damage me or those around me. By 'damage', I mean physically, emotionally, financially, etc . . . Of course there's the other side of "personal responsibility", that says that I have to accept the consequences of my actions, no matter what they are. What about you? - Jim"Like" - The modern day comma Good bye, my friends. You are missed. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billvon 3,058 #2 September 4, 2004 >Of course there's the other side of "personal responsibility", that > says that I have to accept the consequences of my actions, no > matter what they are. That's personal responsibility, to me. You also have a social responsibility to not put others at risk by your activities. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zenister 0 #4 September 5, 2004 QuoteI have to accept the consequences of my actions, no matter what they are. and understand the only one responsible for those consequences is the one who decided to initate the action.... not you, not my mother, not my instructors, and not any outside agency that "should have forced me to 'know' better.."____________________________________ Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oldnewbie 0 #5 September 5, 2004 Your definition is basically what mine is *when given multiple choices ....... and accept the consequences of my actions, NO MATTER what they are*. Its sad I know, but I didn't understand what personal responsibility was until I started skydiving at age 45. Now I know, and its made me a better person who makes wiser choices for MYSELF. I'm also a school teacher, and I use the skydiving video in the classroom so that my students can learn what responsibility is. I use the "Who is responsible to pull etc", of course its ME, and ONLY ME!! Obviously when asked who is responsible for their education, the only answer can be *ME* . They hate that!!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Flyer2Diver 0 #6 September 6, 2004 One big component of personal responsibility is not blaming others or making excuses for things you can control. If I pay a packer and have a mal, that's my responsibility - I chose to jump the packjob. If there's a problem with the spot, I could have stayed in the plane, etc. I think too many people these days blame others, or "bad luck" when things go poorly - that's not personal responsibility. You've got to admit your mistakes to learn from them. I find skydivers tend to be very good at being honest with themselves and others about their screw-ups. That certainly hasn't been my experience in the corporate world! Blue Skies_______________________________ 30005KT 10SM SKC 23/05 A3006 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Amazon 7 #7 September 6, 2004 Ya pays yer money and ya takes yer chances... Simple succinct Train for the possibilities that can happen.. be prepared for them when they do happen... if something happens DEAL WITH IT.. but NEVER blame someone else.. there is far too much assignment of guilt in this society. I have chosen to play in a dangerous world. I get the best gear I can.. the best training I can... and try not to do things that are toooooo sketchy..... but given all of that feces can and does occur Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
livnbored 0 #8 September 7, 2004 Personal responsibility, social responsibility? Why would anyone want those traits when it's so easy to just sue someone else and get your fortune? The law does not support people who take personal responsiblity. Corporate America is doing it's best to eradicate this "trait" in people. But, rest be assured Jimmy, they shant get to me, and hopefully to none of you. I am responsible for everything in my life, and I wouldn't have it any other way. And, in the mean time, I'll keep my other eye on everyone around me, just 'cause I can, which, makes me feel responsible... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jdfreefly 1 #9 September 8, 2004 The problem is, that no matter how hard you try, your decisions affect others. You can take full responsibility for your actions, but that does nothing to ease the suffering your friends and family may feel when you fuck up. I take full responsibilty for my accident. But that has not stopped it from being an emotional drain on those around me.... Basically, I guess I am saying that for most of us, deciding to be a skydiver is a selfish decision. But then, I always was a selfish bastard. Methane Freefly - got stink? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Frenchy68 0 #10 September 8, 2004 The problem is, that no matter how hard you try, your decisions affect others. You can take full responsibility for your actions, but that does nothing to ease the suffering your friends and family may feel when you fuck up. I take full responsibilty for my accident. But that has not stopped it from being an emotional drain on those around me.... Basically, I guess I am saying that for most of us, deciding to be a skydiver is a selfish decision. But then, I always was a selfish bastard.*** I agree with that across the board. I made a point of telling all family members before my first jump that this is what I wanted to do, regardless of what happened (including something going wrong because of negligence). But it expands to others: after giving my best friend a pin check before boarding a couple of months ago, and telling him that his reserve pin looked a little "short", he had a 2 out upon opening. Although he landed safely (after cutting away the main), I consider myself responsible for what happened. Yes he should have had it checked by a rigger, but I should have told him it wasn't jumpable. At my experience lavel (and his), we're only as responsible as our perception of danger is. "For once you have tasted Absinthe you will walk the earth with your eyes turned towards the gutter, for there you have been and there you will long to return." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Airman1270 0 #11 September 8, 2004 ...The law does not support people who take personal responsiblity. Corporate America is doing it's best to eradicate this "trait" in people.... _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Hmmm... I don't know - I think corporate America would like to see more emphasis on personal responsibility, as they take a beating whenever one of their own does something wrong. (Example: man makes inappropriate comments/advances to woman co-worker. In the old days, woman would slap him and get on with her life. Now she goes into an emotional freak-out and sues man's employer for failing to prevent man from being rude.) One problem is that the legal system has become dominated by a secular humanist religious philosophy that punishes people not only for doing bad things, but for failing to prevent bad things from happening. When selecting juries, lawyers seeking to milk this system are careful to weed out people who don't accept this philosophy, leading to ridiculous verdicts which cause us to scratch our heads & wonder what the hell's going on. I've been called for jury duty later this month. If asked about my hobbies, I will truthfully tell them I'm a musician. They don't need to know I skydive, as this will "red flag" me as someone who believes in personal responsibility. If the UPS truck runs a red light and hits someone, the driver is responsible, not UPS. Jon Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
livnbored 0 #12 September 8, 2004 I was kind of being sarcastic, more facetious, but I agree. I choose what I choose to do in life, and that is my responsiblity. I don't mean to be cold, but I don't believe I am responsible for how other people's brains work. I mean, if my mom were to get upset over me doing something, I may feel bad because of how my brain works (and it hurts to see her upset), but I don't feel that I should spend my life protecting other people from themselves. If I did that, what type of life would I have. If I took no responsiblity for my life I would be depending on other people to protect me, so I figure, best be protect myself anyway I can, even if that means trying not to upset mom, only because of how my brain works, not necessarily hers. This is a sticky subject, but I think we can all agree that when it comes downn to it, life is a lot better when you don't feel like someone else has hold of the reins; though this may be illusive at times. Some things are out of our control, but in the end, my mom knows that "I" am the one choosing my life, and I am the one who can determine how great it is by what I accept to be within and not within my control. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
captain1 0 #13 September 9, 2004 PERSONAL responsibility. It refers to being responsible toward yourself, what matters most to you personally. However, you may be personally responsible for somebody else. It all depends on how you personally look at it and quite personally how you feel about it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
airgord 1 #14 September 10, 2004 There is no such thing in the U.S.. We will blame anything or anyone for our actions, read the papers, there are examples every day, a man in AZ kills a small helpless child and in court it is blamed on his abusive upbringing, how can this be??? He is a competent adult able to make decisions and he decided to beat this young child until she died! That is not personal responsibility. Some months ago there was a lawsuit filed bya mother against a major fast food chain concerning her 11 yr old son's weight problem, interviewed on television she said that he would eat that chains food five times a day, when asked how she would let him do this she replied that she could not watch him every minute of every day. My question was where did an 11 year old get the cash to go the the restaurant five times a day? The kid was nearly 300 hundred pounds and his mother was about there also, so now my question is where is personal responsibility there? I could go on and on about the tobacco smokers sueing the companies for THEIR habit but I have ranted enough. Personal responsibility is not alive and well in the United States of America. The lawsuit filed by the Mother over her kids obesity was thrown out of court, thankfully. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
