Heh. Heh heh heh. Heh heh.

The smartest show about the dumbest people is back.

Last Thursday night I cozied up with a wine cooler, some nachos and turned on MTV for the first time in years to watch the return of Mike Judge's Beavis and Butt-head.

The episode was funny and my husband and I spent the episode texting our favorite lines back and forth to each other. From the insightful social commentary to the just plain funny, we laughed our way through the full half-hour. After a fourteen year hiatus, it was good to have these snickering, smart-mouthed idiots back.

One of my favorite moments in the show was just two minutes in, when the screen turned to flame and Beavis began chanting "fire!" Those familiar with Beavis and Butt-head will remember that shortly after the show premiered back in 1993, there was an accident involving fire that was blamed on the show, resulting in the banishment of that phrase from further episodes. The glorification of destructive behavior on a satirical show for adults was held responsible for the actions of a five-year old child. This was around the same time of the infamous <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liebeck_v._McDonald's_Restaurants">McDonald's coffee lawsuit</a>, and we began to hear a new buzz word emerge.

Personal responsibility.

A good thing. Especially if we're talking about someone else.

If I'm talking to my kids about keeping their room neat, personal responsibility is important. If it's my desk, I'm just too busy writing to keep it neat. If I ask my husband to please put his socks in the dirty clothes hamper, I'm just being a champion of personal responsibility. If I forget to launder said socks, it's because I'm a liberated woman and I shouldn't have to be burdened with the task of making sure everyone else has clean socks. If I'm driving and someone cuts me off, it's clearly a case of people needing to take more personal responsibility on the road. If I cut someone off, it's totally an accident because I was singing along to the song on my iPod and you can't blame me for Lady Gaga's ability to make me lose track of the road.

It can be difficult to apply personal responsibility personally. But that's where we need to focus our energy. I need to look at my life and see what things I need to change and make those changes myself. I need to have grace for the places where I don't live up to my own expectations, but I also need to be willing to examine my choices and make appropriate adjustments.

When I only apply personal responsibility to other people's lives, I end up sound like, well, a Butt-head.