The Responsibility Project

Liberty Mutual

Responsibility. What’s your policy?™

Blog: All

The Nanny Diaries

Posted on April 8, 2008 by Kathy McManus Comments (47)

On a hot afternoon in New York City, my friend Miriam was sitting at a grassy public venue, watching her child play alongside other kids in the care of various moms and nannies. A long-time New York resident, Miriam is fully aware of the city’s urban imperative: mind your own business. But she couldn’t help but notice the crying of a nearby baby, approximately nine months old, strapped in his stroller facing the sun, while his nanny ignored him and chatted with another nanny. Read full article »
Attack of the 3rd-Graders?

Posted on April 4, 2008 by Kathy McManus Comments (115)

The shocking headlines out of Waycross, Georgia— 3rd-graders plotted to attack teacher, brought knife, handcuffs —lowered the bar on school violence and raised the alarm among parents, teachers, psychologists and just about anyone with an opinion about the country’s future. Read full article »
Killer Doctor

Posted on April 3, 2008 by Kathy McManus Comments (21)

If your doctor was a convicted killer, would you trust him with your life?

Karl Svensson’s future as a doctor seemed certain when he was accepted to medical school at Sweden’s prestigious Karolinska Institute. Famed for choosing the annual winners of the Nobel Prize in medicine, Karolinska hand-picked its medical students, selecting an elite group best suited for grappling with the ethics of life-or-death decisions and leading lives devoted to saving others. But four months into Svensson’s studies, the 31 year-old’s future became unhinged by his past: would-be doctor Karl Svensson had killed a man. Read full article »
Mandy & Lester

Posted on April 1, 2008 by Kathy McManus Comments (2)

Responsibility sometimes presents itself in small packages with big challenges. In Mandy & Lester, two charming, quirky kids lead the way in showing us what real responsibility is about. No excuses. No hesitation. No giving up. Read full article »
Babies in the Bar

Posted on April 1, 2008 by Kathy McManus Comments (128)

So this baby walks into a bar, and …Well, the baby didn’t actually walk into the bar—it was in a stroller, pushed by its mother, who was going to have a drink or two with some other moms who brought their kids, and…that’s why this is no joke. There’s a bar fight brewing across the country. In Seattle, Austin, Philadelphia, Boston and beyond, bar patrons are getting lathered up on both sides of a polarizing parenting issue: is it responsible (or even acceptable) to belly up to the bar with young children in tow? Read full article »
Foul Ball

Posted on March 25, 2008 by Kathy McManus Comments (37)

Laura Kerod had great seats. She and her husband Kevin were cheering for their local New Jersey minor league baseball team—the Trenton Thunder —sitting enviably close to the dugout. Ms. Kerod turned to check the score board, then turned back. “And boom, it hit me,” she said of the foul ball that slammed into her face, ripping her lip, shattering her teeth, and fracturing her palate. Read full article »
Samaritan or Killer?

Posted on March 20, 2008 by Kathy McManus Comments (20)

It’s possible to be a Good Samaritan. But is it possible to be a not-good-enough Samaritan? A Canadian woman was recently confronted with that question when two killers accused her of not doing enough to save a man they had beaten and left for dead. Read full article »
Driven

Posted on March 18, 2008 by Kathy McManus Comments (8)

How responsible are you for another person’s actions? If you loan your car to a friend, and the friend gets into an accident, it’s generally understood that as the owner of the car, you’ll be held legally liable to some degree.

But if you loan your car to a friend, and the friend uses the car to drive three other people to a house where they commit murder, are you just as guilty as those who took part in the crime, even though you weren’t even there? Read full article »
Death by Blog?

Posted on March 17, 2008 by Kathy McManus Comments (8)

When a 40-year-old Chicago advertising executive named Paul Tilley died recently, the cause of death was officially ruled suicide. Tilley, who oversaw the “I’m Lovin’ It” ads for McDonald’s and the creation of the “Dell Dude”, jumped from a Chicago hotel.

But some believe that Tilley was metaphorically pushed by a steady stream of malicious comments anonymously posted about him online in the weeks before he took his life. Read full article »
Moment of Truth

Posted on March 13, 2008 by Kathy McManus Comments (36)

Many people tell the truth because it’s the responsible thing to do. But should you ever tell the truth because it’s a lucrative thing to do?
Contestants on the controversial new TV show Moment of Truth say yes, motivated by the chance to win $500,000 in exchange for performing a kind of moral striptease in front of their families, spouses, and ultimately, millions of riveted viewers. Read full article »