It cain't be my fault. I weren't even there. You cain't blame me. So I made a few off-tha-wall comments. I painted a picture to make ma point. Every right-minded individual knows I weren't serious. T'aint nothing to do with me.
Don't look at me. I'm a teacher,not a social worker. I'm just glad if they make it into school. I can't be held responsible for what they do outside. That's their parents' job isn't it?
How is this my fault? With my slender majority, I can't afford to ignore public opinion. I'm too junior to have a voice. If I speak out on controversial subjects too soon, that's my career down the pan. Besides, it's impossible to legislate for this sort of thing isn't it?
Whatcha looking at me for? All I did was serve him. I've got a business to run. Gotta feed my family haven't I? I only give the public what they want. What they do with the merchandise after is up to them. So don't you come round here and point that finger at me.
Don't you go saying it's my fault. I gave that boy everything he ever wanted. Love and kindness, all the toys he ever needed, a gun to celebrate reaching manhood. Sure he's spend the last few years in his bedroom in front of the computer. But doesn't every kid? What can you do about it?
Why does everyone always look at me like that? Like I'm a fracking alien? Mum and those bastards at school were always on my case. The politicos pretended to help, but they lied. The Radio Lady was right, Cylons are real. I had to stop them. So I went to the only man I could trust, got what I needed, and hunted them all down. You're too blind to see the truth is'all.
It's not my fault. You can't blame me.
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11 comments:
v good - although i don't think I quite get who the first person is? What did they paint that made the child turn a gun on people, and what is their accent?
The point this makes is very true - we all have to take some shared responsibility for things that happen in our culture. It's getting the balance between that and getting completely overloaded that's the tricky bit, and also allowing that people should also take individual responsibility for their actions.
v thought provoking, as always
The alternating pov makes the point loud and clear. Great job.
Very powerful. It's no one's fault, but it's everyone's responsibility. It's too bad we haven't figured that out yet.
The differing viewpoints here are excellent. Says everything in such a small space. Excellent flash.
Thanks Gracie and Ganymeder. Much appreciated.
Well done, and a fine illustration as to why it is important that we each take responsibility to be a voice which promotes good, or at least one that doesn't promote hate. It is all of our fault in the end.
The title is really good. It really shows something that is prevalent today that something is wrong, you know what it is and you could help but because you didn't do it or it's too difficult or you don't want to put yourself out there it is left undone.
That is something I myself is dealing with right now. My husband told a joke one day (pls no one get offended):
"There was an ugly man who met and married an even uglier woman. They lived and had 3 extremely ugly children."
The moral of the story, if left alone, things go from bad to worse.
sorry it's so long
Hey, I'm just a visitor to your country. What you do to yourselves is your business. Nothing to do with me. I just want to be left do my own thing...
Well-distilled set of "what's this got to do with me?" thoughts and the repetition underscores the hollowness behind them.
The above is a variation on what I've found running through my own head (in much milder form) from time to time. I am an alien on these shores - but that still does not excuse...
Well done. A thought-provoking piece.
The different fonts threw me. Was Blogspot glitching up or were they supposed to denote different speakers? It sounded largely like the same person denying responsibility to me, though I've been wrong before...
thanks everyone for your kind words.
Kayanna, didn't find your story at all offensive, backs up the point I was trying to say!
KjM - not sure which shores you are a visitor to? I'm English, but thinking of America, my take on it I guess.
John - maybe I'm not being clear enough. The fonts were different to show different voices. I tried to change the accents a little each time. I'd hope that readers would get each person by the tone of what they are saying? I guess in a longer piece, you'd be able to flesh the characters out a bit, but for what it's worth, they're supposed to be, DJ, teacher, politician, gunshop owner, mother, disturbed kid.
I could hear the different voices loud and clear. I didn't catch who the DJ was until I read the comments and reread the first section but then it made perfect sense. This was a truly original way to portray that little voice inside us all that tries to deny accountability for our joint ills. Really well done.
Oh, and thank you for your kind comment on my blog today.
I read the voices loud and clear. I loved this, Virginia. Fantastic job.
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