Play Meter

FROM THE EDITOR Yes, that was my fault T Valerie Cognevich Editor PLAY METER he man was admitted to the hospital for amputation of his right foot, which had been injured severely in an accident. His apprehension was understandable, but he knew it would save his life. He h ad adjusted to what life would be like, balancing on crutches or using a prosthetic. At least, he rationed, I'll have one good foot! The doctor tells his family the operation was a complete success. He was recovering quite nicely, and he'd be able to go home in two or three days. It wasn't until his family gathered at his bedside that they noticed the doctor had amputated the wrong foot. The staff scurried around, frantically calling the doctor, who was horrified at his mistake. Back to the operating room where the remaining foot was removed. In another hospital in another state, a woman is suffering from total kidney failure. She is blind and can't speak. Her doctor sees a tube protruding from her stomach, figures it's a feeding tube, and orders feeding solution pumped through it. When the fatal mistake comes to light-the "feeding" tube was actually a dialysis catheter-the patient is dead. These are not isolated incidents, but are two that have been featured in the paper lately. Naturally, you are sympathizing with the patients and their families. Their lives have been forever altered because of carelessness. That they will suffer is a given. What about the doctors who caused it? That's another story altogether. Take doctor number two in the dialysis error: he was sentenced to prison. The American Medical Association and other doctors' groups have taken up an impassioned defense of him, claiming that he is being subjected to unprecedented and unwarranted persecution. They say that criminal ch arges have wrongly replaced civil sanctions in this case. Now ponder the case of a manic-depressive man accused of a brutal attack on a police officer. The man had apparently stopped taking his medicine, causing him to become violent. The judge ruled that the accused was not criminally responsible for the assault after a psychiatrist testified that he is not a threat to society as long as he is medicated. An outrage? Certainly. Unusual? Not a bit. None of those involved in any of these 8 incidents have taken responsibility for their wrong-doing. It's always someone else's fault, and society is finding more and more people to blame. A cold-blooded killer now can claim he was abused as a child so his actions are not his responsibility. A young mother can murder her beautiful children and claim molestation by a stepfather contributed to her crime. Could the ultimate example be Michael Fay, who thought a life of crime in a foreign country would be tolerated as well as it is here? The shock of actually being fairly punished for his crimes sent people reeling. He was the Rodney King of the younger set with a much different ending. The democrats and republicans can beat each other up all they want about whatever issue is popular, but nothing is going to change until society is called upon to take responsibility. Things happen and, yes, people do make mistakes. That's not the issue; it's how those mistakes are faced. It's the media that jumps in where fools fear to tread. Or maybe that should be where decent folks don't care to go. However, even t hose decent folks will take a peek; it's not their responsibility to turn the story off. Does this really have anything to do with coin-op, you might be asking yourself. It has everything to do with it because our industry is part of society with similar motives and feelings. How many times have you heard someone complain that he can't make money because the manufacturers charge too much for games? How about manufacturers complaining because operators don't buy enough games? Before you get all mad at me for saying th at your destiny is in your own hands, t hink about it awhile . When we were younger, the world was in our hands. Fate seldom dealt a cruel blow and our innocence was intact, if not quite understood. When something knocked the wind out of us, it was up to us to handle it. It was then that we grew up. But it was the beginning of learning to make the best of what we have. But most important of all is taking responsibility even if we m!'),ke a wrong decision. Before you are so quick to place blame on the manufacturers, take a look around your location. Are there more out-of-order signs than customers? Has a layer of grime become a permanent feature of your decor? Has the change machine , if you have one, been known to forget to give the change? Taking responsibility, making that lemonade, admitting mistakes can be hard but it's necessary. If you don't like my editorial, I admit that it's all my fault and take sole responsibility. See that wasn't so hard! .& MAY1995