Exactly one week ago around 7 p.m. I was driving home from a yoga class. One minute I was in zen-mode. The next minute I saw two white eyes, slammed on my brakes and felt the thump of a poor animal below my tires. My heart stopped. I felt terrible, but I didn’t know what to do. Did I kill the skunk? Or did I injure it, only to leave it painfully stuck in the middle of the road? Should I turn around and remove it from the road? Should I run it over again to stop the pain?

Paralyzed by indecision and guilt, I found myself unable to do anything but drive. The poignant odor haunted me and I was crying as I entered my driveway. I don’t know if I was more sad about the accident or more mad that I hadn’t done anything after the fact. And I still don’t know what would’ve been the “right” thing to do.

This incident got me thinking. Social and environmental responsibility are the big buzzwords on Main Street, and entire departments are dedicated to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) on Wall Street. While I firmly believe that this is a positive trend, I also feel as though we are losing our individual understanding of moral responsibility and accountability.

Am I the only imperfect skunk killer? Or do you agree that focus has been shifted away from those small actions we take and decisions we make on a day-to-day basis?

In a time when it’s cool to be eco-friendly and globally conscious, you might buy Fair Trade coffee, but are you fair to your neighbors (furry ones included)

ydt COMMENTS: Let us know what you think about the skunk incident or the issue of responsibility at large by clicking on “Thread with Us” and scrolling to the bottom for comments

Also, click here to read Betsy Atkins’ article published in Forbes Magazine challenging the idea of Corporate Social Responsibility. It’s always good to hear both sides of the story. Feel free to comment with other article links that might be helpful to others.