Sir: The problem with the world today is lack of responsibility. Why don’t people take responsibility anymore?

It used to be that we didn’t have to ask people to do things, or force them to do things. They did things that were of benefit to the people around them just for the love of goodness and justice.

Take my mother, for example. She used to make me peanut butter and jelly sandwiches every day when I was nine years old. But now where is she? I’ll tell you where she is. Living it up with her friends in that “senior living” place in Upper Saint Clair, that’s where she is. While she’s having her grilled swordfish for lunch, I’m stuck here making my own peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Why isn’t my mother taking responsibility like she used to?

When I was in high school, I remember that someone dumped out the trash cans in every classroom every night, so that they were all empty by the next morning. Where is that person now? My trash isn’t getting taken out at all. It doesn’t even fit in the can anymore.

And when I was in the state penitentiary, someone used to collect the laundry every week and take it off to be washed, so it came back all clean and fresh. Now I’m doing my own laundry. And it’s not getting done every week, either. What was the point of getting out of prison if I have to do my own laundry?

So I think someone should make other people take some responsibility for the things that need to get done. And don’t go telling me I should make them do it myself. That’s not my responsibility.

—Sincerely, The Guy at the Laundromat Asking People for Quarters