Walking in the Valley A weekly column for those who live and walk in Silicon Valley by Barbara Dahlgren

It amazes me that a jury awarded Richard Boeken $3 billion. You may remember that Boeken, in his 50s, sued the tobacco industry because he got lung cancer from smoking cigarettes. I feel sorry for Boeken's health problems. It's a sad affair when anyone gets cancer, but to hold the tobacco industry responsible for a person's choice to smoke seems ludicrous. Is the tobacco industry guilty? You bet they are! They are guilty of withholding information that proved nicotine was addictive. They are guilty of making light of the documentation showing there was a link between lung cancer and smoking. They are guilty of trying to make smoking look sophisticated, sexy, and appealing. Are they responsible for Boeken's cancer? I think not. Boeken chose to smoke.

In the late 50s and 60s there was enough information floating around to put up a red flag to smokers that perhaps it wasn't the healthiest thing to do. Enough information so that a warning was put on each cigarette packet by the mid 60s, but Boeken chose to ignore those warnings and believe what he wanted to believe. He either didn't believe the warnings or he believed it wouldn't happen to him. Whatever he believed, he made the choice to continue smoking.

Of course the tobacco industry is guilty of shading their facts. It's called advertising. Did you really expect them to come out with an ad campaign that said, "Use our product, it's bad for you?" Although, people were so hung up on smoking it wouldn't have deterred them. Do we truly believe each TV commercial or magazine ad we read? Do we really believe certain cereals are part of a well- balanced breakfast? Or the right shampoo or toothpaste will make us sexy? Or fat free foods will help us lose weight? Or certain drugs have no long lasting side effects? Or because the label says "natural" it's better for us? There are a lot of natural things I wouldn't want to put in my mouth. Consider the source of your information.

We live in a society that does not want to accept responsibility for their actions. If a person spills hot coffee, it's the restaurant's fault. If a person shoots someone, it's the gun manufacturer's fault. If a person drives drunk, it's the bartender's fault. If a child misbehaves, it's the music industry's fault. Should gun manufacturers, restaurants, bartenders, the music industry, and others act more responsibly? Yes! Are they to blame for the choices we make? No!

This proclivity to blame others for our poor choices is not new. It's been going on since the time of Adam and Eve. If you read Genesis 3 you'll see that when God asked Adam why he disobeyed by eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Adam blamed Eve. Then Eve blamed the serpent. Adam went so far as to say to God, "It's the woman, YOU gave me!" Now it was God's fault. Everyone wanted to blame somebody else. And so the mold was set and we've been blaming someone else for what we do ever since. But just because a mold was set doesn't mean it can't and shouldn't be broken. It can begin with us. All we have to do is say, "I made a mistake. I'm sorry." If we start to accept responsibility for some of our lesser poor choices, we might learn something. Maybe we'll learn to make better and wiser choices in the future. After all, our lawyer may not be as good as Boeken's.

©July 2001

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