Blame game is for children

Maybe it's the way I was brought up, but I see people engaging in the blame game, even adults, as a childish act, except perhaps in a situation where one needs to escape death—like being beaten to death in the case of jungle justice. In such a case, it’s actually wise to escape death first with lies and later confess when things have calmed down.

I won’t lie here, I’ve been involved in this at different stages, particularly during my secondary school days. Trust me, in those times, we were sensible enough to know right from wrong, but we often gambled with truth and lies to save ourselves from being flogged by the teacher. I remember a particular day when the teacher flogged my friends and me because we directed blame toward the wrong group of people. When the teacher found out the truth, he turned the remaining time of the class into a flogging session. It was embarrassing that day because, as we were being beaten, the teacher interrogated us like thieves in police custody, and we eventually had to confess the truth. That wasn’t the last time we did something like that, but I had to drop that habit as I grew into adulthood.

Pixabay

As I mentioned in the first paragraph, placing the blame on someone else for what you did wrong is nothing but cowardice. Oftentimes, the punishment for such wrongdoing wouldn't be more than a reprimand or possibly a fine, especially for an adult. So, I wonder why people aren't brave enough to accept responsibility and face the consequences. I don't know about others, but for me, I feel like a bigger person—standing tall with my shoulders raised—when I take responsibility for my wrongdoings rather than shifting the blame to someone else. Pointing the blame at someone for a wrong you committed is very childish, which is why it’s mostly done by children. Any adult who engages in that behavior is nothing but a child.

At this stage in my life, if someone does something wrong and tries to shift the blame to me, I will fight against it, even if the wrongdoing occurred in my absence. I hate it! The last time I experienced this was at my previous workplace. We had an electrical issue that I usually reported to the boss, but each time, he took my reports casually because he wasn't often in the office to see what was happening or feel the impact of the fault. Then, a time came when the electrical fault escalated, and all hell broke loose. He started pouring all the blame on me, claiming I didn’t inform him about how serious the issue was. I had to challenge him by asking whether he had ever come to check what I had reported to him. My question humbled him, but because he was the boss and didn’t want to be intimidated, he continued to assert his authority with his blame game.

However, my joy was that I had managed to humble him with my question in the presence of the electrician he called to fix the issue, as well as in front of other staff members who supported me, affirming that I had indeed reported the fault to him multiple times.

Thanks!

This is for the first prompt