n pl -ties
1. The state or position of being responsible
2. A person or thing for which one is responsible
3. The ability or authority to act or decide on one's own, without supervision
*Within the realms of http://www.thefreedictionary.com that is.
I didn't blog about it in particular, but I used to work at the Metz & Co. Not to pretend to know much about it, but it's a fashion department where the worldly top-class brands find their way through this 7 floor level, artfully decorated building. It's a beautiful store, centered in the heart of Amsterdam – which looks lovely from the view in the restaurant on the sixth floor. A floor I used to walk on during the weekends.
I never intended to depart my part-time job as a salesman in fashion, but I had more important things to do. Things like -at the time- having fun on vacation.
I could bring my vacation to an end and start working (as I was scheduled in), or I could choose to continue my vacation and quit my job. "Why then quit your job?" you might ask yourself. "Because I don't like to place myself in a position of having to ask my supervisor such ridiculous favors (i.e. not working, but partying)" is what I would tell you. Of course I could have come up with an excuse (I have a fever, I have exams, I am pregnant and I can think of 27 other reasons), yet an honest man has nothing to fear.
And just like any honest man -in a position as fortunate as mine- would do, I quit my job and partied on. (For the record, I don't necessarily need to work; I do it not to get bored). When I told my mother I am no longer in the so-called fashion-business, because I wanted to prolong my vacation, she was disappointed in me. And how could she not? After all, "a real man -a real alpha male that is- doesn't quit his job, just because he wants to party. That is immature. It is not an act of responsibility" one might even argue.
True as that apparent notion may be on logical grounds, not all apparent notions are logically true. The state or position of being responsible -as the first definition of responsibility implies- could might as well be perceived as an internal state or position of being responsible to yourself. Perhaps my inner state informed me that -at that time- I had to stay on vacation and party instead of working like the working man does. Maybe at that time, I wanted to have fun with girls in hotels instead of passively observe other guy's girlfriends at the third floor of the Metz. (For the record, guys generally don't appreciate it when you flirt with their girlfriend). Indeed, at that time, it was my responsibility to party like a rockstar rather than to work. "Is that irresponsible?" The answer to that question depends on how one measures the concept.
The ability or authority to act or decide on one's own, without supervision is yet another definition that enlightens the reader. My mother calls me irresponsible because I prefer to party rather than to work. But am I not acting in accordance with the aforementioned? Without supervision is not the same as without command. If my supervisor can influence me to work -which is part of the job-description of a supervisor-, than it is not solely me who chooses to work. Rather, I am “forced” by an external source -in this case my supervisor-. Obviously not forced in the physical sense of the word, but 'force' is -as well as 'responsibility'- a word susceptible to a wide scale of interpretations.
This is how I think about responsibility. It's one of the -perhaps nonconstructive- consequences of being open-minded. Sometimes open-minded people become too much open-minded and start to think they are rulers of destiny… and that nothing seems significant.
Or perhaps open-minded people are just not responsible? Who knows...