by sumac | Jun 3, 2015 | Youth apologizes
A kid in Savannah called 911. Instead of saying “Two guys just hopped the fence into our yard and they’re trying to get in the back door” or “My mom fell, and she’s not moving” or “The house across the street is on fire and people are trapped upstairs” or...
by sumac | Jun 1, 2015 | Personal Apologies, Political Apologies
A public high school in Cranston, Rhode Island, had a big banner hanging in the auditorium, with an official school prayer on it. The school’s first class (1959) had been told to create it. The prayer would have been uncontroversial and unexciting (“Help us to...
by sumac | May 29, 2015 | Academic apologies
In Pennsylvania, the Upper Adams School District distributed a four-page letter to graduating high school seniors, on “Proper Attire & Etiquette for Awards Program and Graduation.” It included useful advice (take diploma in left hand, so you can shake with right),...
by sumac | May 20, 2015 | Corporate Apologies
There was a distinctive smell at Refugio Beach. Someone called the fire department. Firefighters from Santa Barbara found a big old oil slick – “dark, black crude oil” – in the ocean. About a half-mile-long slick, Captain Dave Zaniboni told USA Today. Unlike the huge,...
by sumac | May 8, 2015 | Academic apologies
It was a strange little story about a California school district’s outrageous practice. Happy ending when they backed down. There were apologies! But it all centered on a song so odd – downright archaic – that it called for some actual reporting. That turned out...