We are the only ones who can watch out for our butts.

A funny thing happened on my way out of the office today.

A little thing, but relevant to and symptomatic of how things have seemed to go in recent days.

I signed out of my computer, left the building, and got all the way to the parking garage before I realized that I'd forgotten my ID badge.

(Insert your choice of expletive I wouldn't post here)

This was going to be an ENORMOUS hassle. I have to finish an article today, get my oil changed, and start getting ready for this weekend -- and dealing with security to get into the building is a big enough pain in the butt in the morning, when everyone is actually there. If you forget your ID badge, your manager has to come to the security desk, vouch for you, and escort you to your unit after you've been given a temporary badge for the day. My manager was gone. It was late! Most of my entire unit was gone! This was probably going to add on a good 15 minutes, and that's if I was lucky.

It was unavoidable, though. I'd rather deal with those guys than the parking-garage staff thinking I was a liar trying to freeload on parking fees. That'd be an even bigger headache.

I dragged my feet reluctantly back into the building. People were shuffling out, glad to be done with work and go home to their families. There was only one man at security, and he was hunched over the computer, on the phone. His back was to all of us. Osama Bin Laden himself could be standing behind him, waving his arms, and this guy wouldn't see it.

I could be the good employee, get his attention, and go through the aforementioned bureaucratic procedure.

I nonchalantly sauntered by, instead. I was just one in a crowd of many employees. He never noticed the lack of badge. I breezed into the office, snatched my badge off the desk, and was out of there in two minutes, credentials now properly in hand.

Guys, I know it isn't a big deal. Nothing happened.

But I work for a major insurer. These security staffers are entrusted not just with protecting the lives of the few hundred employees in my building, but the protected health information of a whole lot of people. So, yeah, nothing happened this time. I wasn't a crazed gunwielder or a criminal intent on selling your health information. In fact, I work my tail off daily to help you, and to protect you and the security of your records.

But it did unnerve me a bit, and I may have a chat with the security desk in the morning. I feel a bit bad about doing this, because I know how the way big corporations do things. The security staff probably have all kinds of weird procedures, red tape, protocol, and such (I know I do!), which make it much harder to do their actual job. Which should be to protect our lives and the important files of our customers.

But it's just one symptom of what seems to be a Band-Aid society. Was it like this when I was growing up? Shirking because it's "not my problem" or, worse, neglecting what truly is your job? It makes me a little less happy at having been able to avoid that security-badge hassle.

Sure, your own mistake could be no big deal. Maybe you work at McDonalds, and you got lazy and put two pickes on that burger instead of three. Big whoopin' deal.

But what if? What if a kid runs into the street while a crossing guard is busy checking out some hottie nearby? Or, say... what if there's a financial regulator watching porn instead of thumping greedy bank execs who are taking gambles with your retirement, your mortgage's stability, or pretty much the entire economy, as it turns out?

Wouldn't the Mineral Management Services workers who smiled and nodded to their oil-exec friends have been better friends if they'd, oh, I dunno, called them out on the corner-cutting that's now drawn scrutiny upon the whole industry, and inflicted massive, ongoing destruction on the Gulf of Mexico? Were the lives of eleven men and countless sea creatures worth it?

Are there any among us with still-unshaken confidence that these crises are a fluke that won't happen again? How many of us are checking ourselves? How'd it become so rare to do the right thing, whether one or two lives or millions hang in the balance?

We are the paradigm shift that needs to happen, folks. We are the ONLY ones who can watch out for our own butts, and those of the people around us. Personal responsibility is not just a nice idea; it's something we must nurture for our own sakes. And social, or corporate, responsibility are only this on a larger scale. We've gotta use our heads here.

If it were easy, and if our current society rewarded it, we'd all already be on that path. But today, now, is where you and I can put our feet upon that path.