Comments for SorryWatch

Comment on Condolences, bro, but at least you don’t have my money problems by Bram van Woerkom

Bram van Woerkom — Wed, 20 May 2026 10:04:59 +0000

Oh this is a lovely read. I love the commentary too

Comment on “Say You’re Sorry” by sumac

sumac — Fri, 08 May 2026 18:23:45 +0000

In reply to tea. Yes. What is "common sense" before clothed in psychological terminology... changes.

Comment on “Say You’re Sorry” by tea

tea — Fri, 08 May 2026 18:19:33 +0000

Reading old psychology is always astoundingly precarious feeling. Once upon a time we institutionalized women who disagreed with us, queer people whose choices disagreed with ours, and people of color or the neurodivergent who were not like us. All such reading does for me is make me wonder how close our society is to rediscovering the power of apology and how much farther away from such basic othering and abuse we could be if we ever faced ourselves…

Comment on No way, Ina May by snarly

snarly — Fri, 08 May 2026 00:19:53 +0000

In reply to Steve Wobbleman. Steve, thanks so, so much for your comment. I'm sorry about your experience with Ina May; that's just awful.

Comment on No way, Ina May by Steve Wobbleman

Steve Wobbleman — Thu, 07 May 2026 18:03:49 +0000

Well, as a father, I have my own gripes with Ina May.

In 1973 I was a very young father to be who wanted more than anything in the world , to be present at the birth of our child, something that was not allowed in hospitals at that time. Of course I didn’t have a clue what homebirth entailed. Fortunately we met someone from the farm and went to see about it. (I believe we were the first non members to give birth there).

We had a very good idea when my mate was due but the Farm Midwives thought it would be a month later because she was small. So we arranged to return around the time they predicted and when she went into labor exactly when we had thought, we had to drive the 200 miles or so in our old pickup while in labor.

We landed there and were given a place, which was fine if a bit rushed.

What we hadn’t learned was that the farm wasn’t into yoga.

So, when I, not knowing what I should do and feeling rather nervous, decided to go into a nearby area and do “the Bow” position in order to relax, this was interpreted as somehow trying to steal attention or some shit and I was told by Ina May to leave- The main reason we had come to the farm in the first place being so I could be there.

I was 17 and all I needed was someone with some sense and compassion to tell me , look, hold her hand, etc. Instead I was summarily evicted. This had terrible effects on our relationship.

Later, after moving to NH we ended up joining the Farm for a few years though as a non original member and younger than most I was never really accepted. We did have 2 more children there before leaving to be on our own.

I consider The Farm a “Cult Lite”,a sort of a vaccination against such things. There was alot i agreed with but I learned that when you take away money it doesn’t solve all problems, it creates a who-knows-who hiearchy also apparently common in non- profits.

20+ years later I received a kind of healing when my first daughter gave birth (in a hospital) and I was effectively the Dula for her when her hubby ran off in fear. I later attended her second birth.

I am now a great grandfather of 2

I have mixed feelings about The farm.The Midwives were mostly fine but Ina May was a jerk to me. And Stephen G was one of the few people on the farm who was nice to me. I have a hard time thinking they were truly “Racist” (I hate that term because, really, there is no such thing as “race”).

Stephen had his defects but he sincerely tried to do something to help the world. I saw him while passing through on my way to Burningman in 2002 and gave him a big hug. Don’t blame all cultism on the leader- the followers are a big part of that mix.
So Bless him and RIP. BUT Ina May was a CREEP to me and hurt my life.

Comment on What are these little HEARTS doing on my GRAPHS? by Wendy M. Grossman

Wendy M. Grossman — Wed, 29 Apr 2026 09:16:24 +0000

Years later, worth noting that Hunt never lost his main paid gig (unless he has retired from it), but the British journalist who reported his comments…did, the following year, when the university she taught at eliminated the course she taught. In between, she was attacked by the Daily Mail.

Comment on I value my idiot constituents by Pat Adams

Pat Adams — Wed, 04 Jun 2025 20:34:51 +0000

Wonder how quickly I’d be tackled to the ground if I told her, “You’re going to die”?

Comment on I value my idiot constituents by Barbara

Barbara — Wed, 04 Jun 2025 19:14:21 +0000

Yassss! Well said, sumac!

Comment on Raindrops keep falling on my superfluous apologies by snarly

snarly — Thu, 26 Dec 2024 18:41:13 +0000

Post author here: A reader emailed us that one of the authors of these studies on superfluous apologies, Alison Wood Brooks, has been accused — in a piece by Daniel Engber in the January 2025 issue of The Atlantic (published online, in November 2024, with the title “The Business-School Scandal That Just Keeps Getting Bigger”) — of scientific misconduct. As far as we can tell, no one has challenged the data or research methods of the work we discuss in this post. But the evidence presented in the Atlantic piece about other papers by Woods is pretty damning. Engber further discusses the sheer number of business-school profs publishing clever, sexy, media-friendly, unsubstantiated or outright falsified studies and gaining fat speaking fees and book deals in the process. It’s a depressing, demoralizing piece. I think I, Snarly, will be more wary in the future when covering the work of business-school professors, as opposed to psychology and linguistics folks who focus on apology.

Comment on Semi-apology from a ghost-whisperer by kayo

kayo — Fri, 01 Nov 2024 00:46:06 +0000

When I was a kid I could make thumping noises with a couple of my toes. Drove my parents nuts. Little did I know that I could have had fame, fortune, ignominy and death.