35. A Disease and a Responsibility

I could hear The Other Ken’s group in the room next to my office.  He read them an article about a local man suing a bar.  The man had fallen off his barstool.  The Other Ken asked if they were on the jury, would they award the man any money?

Austin pointed out bars weren’t supposed to serve visibly drunk people.  Morgan, a thirty-eight year-old nurse who’d been caught stealing painkillers from her hospice patients, said some people could look sober when they were really drunk.

Most of the group said the man needed to take responsibility for his actions. 

Jameston didn’t say much until Austin argued the man had a disease, namely alcoholism, and wasn’t completely responsible.  I had really expected Jameston to side with the man, citing the law about serving alcohol to drunk people. Instead, he said, “My uncle lost most of his eyesight to diabetes.  Having diabetes wasn’t his fault. It was his fault, his responsibility, when he drove through an intersection and almost killed a guy walking his dog.  The judge told him some diseases require us to be more responsible, not less.”

Today I will be responsible.

Time for a Change ©2017 by Ken Montrose

Time for a Change is a work of fiction. Any similarity between the characters and anyone you might know is purely coincidental.

Other works by Ken Montrose are available at: www.greenbriartraining.com