Letter: Take responsibility for bad decisions

Regarding the incident in the Cincinnati Zoo: One of the things about this country's society that upsets me is the propensity, on both public and personal levels, for not accepting responsibility.

We frequently hear, 'It's not my fault,” or, 'It was an accident,” or 'I didn't mean to do it,” or 'I couldn't help it.”

A tragedy is often the result of a series of bad decisions, and whoever made those decisions needs to step up and say, 'It's my fault. I'm sorry. I messed up.”

The whole debacle with the child climbing the barrier into the gorilla enclosure is the fault of both the zoo (insufficient protection for the animals) and the parents (insufficient attention to the child), but we have yet to hear anyone taking responsibility and apologizing for the bad judgment demonstrated by either party.

Carolyn Goddard

North Liberty