As a mother of girls I’m highly sensative to female behaviors — those that I want my girls to exhibit and those I’d like them to avoid. My rant today is about the inappropriate apology. I am sure that there are men who also have this annoying habit, but I tend to notice it in women.
So as a matter of public service I would like to call out those apologies that you should retain and those that you should drop
You probably owe me an apology if you
- Run into my car
- Step on my toe
- Ruin my outfit
- Say something mean to me
- etc.
You do not owe me an apology if you
- Call my house and the person you are looking for is not there
- Want to ask for 5 minutes of my time to talk about something
- Want to disagree with me about a topic or idea
- etc
Whoever taught you that you need to apologize for your existence got it wrong. Trust me, you have a lot of great things to contribute. Don’t tell me to undervalue you. It’s silly and it’s time to stop.
Meg Bear 