EagleTribune.com, North Andover, MA

I'm not big on New Year's resolutions, at least for myself. It's too depressing to end up breaking them within the first waking hour of the first day. But I'm happy to suggest them to others. Like most people, I'm not great at spotting my own flaws, but I can easily see where the rest of you need to reform your ways.

So, in that spirit, I offer a modest resolution for society at large, but particularly to our political leaders, since they will have to take the lead in any reform of this type - and they might if they are convinced they will take no political heat for it:

Could we all just lighten up in 2008?

The need for this resolution has existed for decades. But I was reminded of it again upon reading about yet another example of the death of common sense.

A senior citizens' bake sale in Salem, Mass., had to be canceled recently after Health Agent Joanne Scott ruled that all items sold at bake sales had to be prepared in a kitchen with a Board of Health permit. Mayor Kim Driscoll, displaying a keen perception of the obvious, observed that this would effectively prohibit bake sales.

In a world governed by common sense, this ruling would be laughed off the table. It would not pass either the smell or the taste test.

The reality is that a Board of Health permit doesn't necessarily guarantee anything. The one time I got sick from food - really, really sick - was after eating a bucket of fried chicken from one of the most famous franchises in the country. One that I am sure was licensed by the local Board of Health. I'm sure the projectile vomiting I endured for a half hour or so wasn't their intent, but they were still guilty of serving me some very bad chicken.

By contrast, I've eaten probably thousands of homemade meals at other people's homes, at musical events, at bike rides or road races, none of which were overseen by a Board of Health. I never got sick. I might the next time. But that is a risk I am willing to take.

But I don't blame Scott for her ruling. It is the logical result of another reality: If anything bad happens to anybody, even if it is an accident and even if it was brought on by their own choice, somebody, or some company, or some municipality is going to get sued.

Salem can't risk the liability of what it might cost if somebody eats a bad brownie. It probably wouldn't even help to post a warning sign that says, "Eat at your own risk."

But this is not a "First let's kill all the lawyers" rant either. I don't blame them. They don't file suits out of their own personal outrage for damages resulting from an accident. Somebody hires them to do it. If we're unhappy with the lawyers, we'd better first be unhappy with ourselves.

So, I blame us. Our failure to lighten up means we are well on the way to sucking the joy, the excitement, the spontaneity and yes, the ability to raise a few bucks with a bake sale, out of life. It is past time to resolve that, in the case of most accidents, there is nothing and nobody to blame but chance. Give the lawyers a break from this stuff and let them prosecute or defend criminals.

Do we really think we can sue the risks out of life? Do we really want to? If that's what we got, we would be bored out of our minds. What an excruciating drag. Excitement generally carries an element of risk, but it is the risk factor that makes things exciting or thrilling. Everything from sky diving to bungee jumping, hiking, biking, water skiing, sledding or snowboarding has risks. So does every sport we play. So does simply going outside, or even coming inside. Are we going to post warning signs at the doors to our homes?

Some of the best sledding hills in the region have been closed because the property owners, public or private, can't afford the liability risk. If somebody gets hurt, there will be a lawsuit demanding millions because the owner "knew, or should have known" that sledding can be hazardous.

Well, of course. But everybody who goes sledding, and every parent who allows a child to go sledding, also "knows or should know" the same thing.

Why can't we take responsibility ourselves for the risks we choose to take?

I suppose if we continue down this path, we will be safer. Our litigious nature will weave a protective cocoon for us. There will be fewer injuries and deaths.

But in exchange for that, we won't know what it is to really live.

Who wants to spend 2008 and beyond like that?

Taylor Armerding is associate editorial page editor of The Eagle-Tribune. He may be reached at 978-946-2213 or at tarmerding@eagletribune.com. Read him daily at The Soapbox, the Eagle-Tribune blog at blogs.eagletribune.com/soapbox