Not Responsible for Errors!

So, it isn't often that I actually look at a Long Island Rail Road schedule - I have a pretty set routine (thanks kids) and there are a couple of morning and evening trains that make up my options.  But being one of the ten or so people that had to work on MLK day (again, boo to my boss) I had to look at a schedule because it was a Holiday schedule - well, modified Holiday whatever that means.  And, in looking I also came across this little nugget of a disclaimer in the printed schedule "Not responsible for Errors."  Which was surrounded by a bunch of legalese about how the LIRR cannot assume any responsibility for, well, anything it would seem - or at least anything related to getting people somewhere by the trains they operate using the schedules they print.

Now, a person could get concerned about how a business could excel (or even operate at a middling level of competency) when they assume no responsibility for what they are doing - particularly a business upon which she relies day in and day out.  But, as the Buddhists (or someone) say, you shouldn't worry about what you can't control (even when that thing you can't control affects large portions of your life and costs a lot of money).  So instead, I decided to think about how it would benefit *me* to no longer be responsible for errors.

• Oh the time I would save at work if I stopped proofing spelling and grammar, verifying facts, and other time consuming acts I have spent on quality issues.  Wrong time included on that donor reception invite?  Not my problem - didn't you see that "not responsible for errors nor any inconveniences resulting from them" in the small print on the bottom?
• I would spend a few extra bucks and get my checks personalized with my new special quote (can you get the quote right under the dollar amount?) and no longer worry about writing them out in the correct amounts.  Let the receivers of my money deal with the ramifications of there not being enough - I'm "not responsible for errors!"
•  I would start showing up at work whenever I wanted and leaving when I felt like it and just tell my boss that my “schedule was subject to change without notice.”
• I would save a lot of time and stress and cut back on all the parenting stuff.  I'd just send those kids out into the world with a note from me that reads "not responsible for errors or any damage resulting from them."  In fact, I'll give my kids that note when either of them attempt to bring up any childhood crap to explain some wrong decision they make in their twenties.  I could get a lot of mileage out of this one.

Well done LIRR!  This refusal to assume responsibility for anything regardless of how it affects anyone else *is* easier!  I'm going to continue to follow your lead and work on my inability to function in any inclement weather and start considering myself on time as long as I am within a mile of where I need to be within at least 10 minutes of when I need to be there.  The people waiting outside for me in 10 degree weather will surely be okay with that.