Our Book!
Sorry, Sorry, Sorry: The Case for Good Apologies is a synthesis of everything we’ve learned from working on this site for the last decade. It’s out now; it’s getting really good reviews; and you can read about it here…
The Latest in Apologies…
Some Categories of Apology…
More on the science of apology
Time to look at a new "how to apologize" study! The paper, called "An Exploration of the Structure of Effective Apologies," will be published in the May 2016 issue of Negotiation and Conflict Management Research...
making kids apologize (cuppa comme ci comme ca)
Lots of viral buzz about a post, on a blog called cuppacocoa, from a teacher named JoEllen, about how she makes her class apologize. Some of her ideas work for me; some emphatically don't...
Apologies of a Jeopardy Jerk
To quote Weird Al:
Don't know what I was thinkin' of/
I guess I just wasn't too bright/
Well, I sure hope I do better/
Next weekend on The Price Is Righ-ight-ight
So many afternoons spoiled
Will Rogers was the first comedian to play Carnegie Hall. Widely beloved, quoted, nominated for president. We know some votes he wouldn't have gotten.
Nick Cave on forgiveness
Someone asked the singer-songwriter Nick Cave, on his intimate personal site The Red Hand Files, "How do you forgive somebody whom you love very much but has done something truly terrible?" He answered...
A horrid apology from Lufthansa, right out of the gate
It's a lot like United's dragging incident, but with less blood and more antisemitism.
Don’t worry, girls and boys, your parents are billed routinely!
HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of soreheads, who did jump through the hoops, and still didn't get their memberships canceled.
Apologies in the desert with no pants on, revisited!
In 2013, Sumac visited Camp Playapology at Burning Man. Her account of the visit remains one of our most popular posts. In 2019, Snarly went to Burning Man for the first time. Her spouse, Dr. Cheezie, was attending his 22nd Burn. (It’s a mixed marriage.) Of course she had to visit Camp Playapology.
Not new, but new to us. And funny. We need funny right now, no?
It's Amber Ruffin on Late Night with Seth Meyers, apologizing like a sexual harasser! To be fair, of course, we don't know for sure that Seth didn't ask Amber Ruffin to punch him in the face. And also to be fair, we haven't heard from the many, many men Amber Ruffin did not punch in the face. Plus it is a known fact that my cat is male and Amber Ruffin did not punch him in the face...
ALL HANDS, ALL HANDS, EXCELLENT CELEB APOLOGY NOT A DRILL
OUR LONG NATIONAL APOLOGY NIGHTMARE IS OVER. (Of course it isn't but JUST GIVE ME THIS.)...
Condolences, bro, but at least you don’t have my money problems
Marx’s next letter is not great, either. He does say it was “very wrong” of him to have written as he did, but then he’s on to excuses, complaints about Jenny’s unfairness to him, the state of his marriage, and guilt-tripping. He was FORCED TO BE CYNICAL! But DON’T WORRY ABOUT ME! I will just declare bankruptcy and send my children out as servants! No prob! It’ll be fine!
Jeffy, Hecate, Cotton Mather, Samuel Sewall, and Me, Marjorie
January 14, 2022 marks the 325th anniversary of the first apology for the Salem Witch Trials. It was...a product of its time?
Rotten leadership
When Winter Storm Uri hit Texas, bringing icy horror, electrical blackouts, failing water supplies, and dangerous roads, Mayor Tim Boyd did not sit on his hands and remain silent. He took his pixels in his own two hands, rared up on his hind legs, got on Facebook, and attacked his constituents.
Every politician’s apology for violating Covid-19 restrictions
I deeply regret my failure to respect laws and protocols while urging you, my constituents, to respect laws and protocols.
