We flail around looking for someone else to blame instead of putting our hands up and saying, “I was wrong”. Presidents, politicians, government officials, police, bankers, clergy, doctors, teachers, pupils, husbands, wives, parents, children—how much clearer the air would be if we could swallow our pride and say it. Instead we double down; we go for broke and proclaim our innocence. We engage in papering over our actions with an elaborate fabrication of lies.

A businessman from the south of France is suing Uber for a staggering €45 million in damages. (For those who aren’t familiar with Uber—it’s effectively a taxi company without cars. You use your smartphone to submit a request for a cab, and someone nearby who is signed up with Uber as a driver is sent your request.) So what happened?

The man was being unfaithful to his wife, and on several occasions had used her smartphone to request a driver to take him to his lover. Despite signing out of the app, the software kept sending notifications to her phone revealing his travel history and ultimately arousing her suspicions. She divorced him, presumably on the fairly solid grounds of adultery.

And now with all the arrogance of one who had wanted to have his cake and eat it, he is seeking to blame Uber for the mess.

His lawyer said after lodging the case, “My client was the victim of a bug in an application. The bug has caused him problems in his private life.”

Check the language: “My client was a victim”—surely the aggrieved wife was the victim?? The ‘bug’ has caused the problems—seriously?!? The bug?? How about his unfaithfulness?

The glitch in the software only revealed the problem in his private life. It didn’t cause them. But like a child who trips over a toy and then kicks the toy saying “Stupid toy,” so he flings blame everywhere but the right place.

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