Never Having To Say You’re Not Sorry

Recently, a college basketball player from Oklahoma State, the visiting team, chased a ball into the Texas Tech stands.

A fan screamed at him, “You’re a piece of crap.”

The player went after the fan until he was pulled off by teammates.

The next day, speaking from a podium, the player said, “I really do apologize for it. This is not how I conduct myself.”

The fan, speaking to the media said, “I would like to take this opportunity to offer my sincere apologies…my actions last night …do not reflect myself….”

So, we have both men telling us that they are truly not the people who they apparently are.

Dissected, their apologies explain that they are sorry for the thing that they did, but it wasn’t really them who did it.

The comedian, Flip Wilson, had an explanation for such behavior.

Call it the apology-denial.

It’s  become   big business in America…our newest cottage industry.

Employed like   Houdini’s escape act, finalize any action with an apology, sprinkle on some denial, and expect the straightjacket to drop to the ground.

The drunks who massacre people on our highways, the public servants who get caught with pockets full of illegal cash, the politicians who can’t keep their ethics straight or their pants up (Yes… it’s always pants), the pious who practice things they'd never preach, all use it.

Of course, the ‘Sorrys’ always come after the headlines, never before.

Yes, I rammed a pencil into your eye, but, after all, I did say that if I hurt anyone by my action, I’m truly sorry.

Now the ball is in your court.

Be a patrician and accept it.