Friday, September 09, 2005
Apology...How Far Should it Go?
Apology...How Far Should it Go?
Something happened today, which made me think about how far a person should actually go, to "say sorry"....
This morning, as my boss needed to go to the doctor, he left a message with MD that he would be coming in late at about 11 am. So accordingly (as is our usual practice), MD sent out an email to inform our dept that the "The boss had gone to the doctor and would "gone" (instead of the correct "come") in at 11 am. " Was probably a typo on MD's part, nothing really serious actually.
When Poodie saw the note, she just casually mentioned to MD (in a joking manner somemore) that she had typed "gone" instead of "come" but MD took it seriously (or at least we thought she did), cuz shortly after that, MD sent out another note and said "Thousand apologies. I had typed the word "gone" instd of "come" in the email." My gosh! Poodie just meant it as a joke but MD really took it so seriously. I mean, it was not a very glaring mistake or anything and furthermore, there was no need for a "thousand" apologies when you only made a simple minor mistake. If it were me, I would probably have joked back and said "Ya lar, Poodie, your english very good lah" or something to that extent. Okie, granted that Poodie & I are closer pals than MD & Poodie, but still, even if another person were to say that to me, I won't take it so much to heart as to offer a "thousand" apologies lor...really don't understand her!!
So the moral of the story is "Don't apologise unless there is a need to because you were at fault, it is not always nice to apologise for nothing you have done wrong. And even if you really did commit a minor mistake, there is no need for a "thousand" apologies!! A simple apology (as long as it's from the heart) will do!
This morning, as my boss needed to go to the doctor, he left a message with MD that he would be coming in late at about 11 am. So accordingly (as is our usual practice), MD sent out an email to inform our dept that the "The boss had gone to the doctor and would "gone" (instead of the correct "come") in at 11 am. " Was probably a typo on MD's part, nothing really serious actually.
When Poodie saw the note, she just casually mentioned to MD (in a joking manner somemore) that she had typed "gone" instead of "come" but MD took it seriously (or at least we thought she did), cuz shortly after that, MD sent out another note and said "Thousand apologies. I had typed the word "gone" instd of "come" in the email." My gosh! Poodie just meant it as a joke but MD really took it so seriously. I mean, it was not a very glaring mistake or anything and furthermore, there was no need for a "thousand" apologies when you only made a simple minor mistake. If it were me, I would probably have joked back and said "Ya lar, Poodie, your english very good lah" or something to that extent. Okie, granted that Poodie & I are closer pals than MD & Poodie, but still, even if another person were to say that to me, I won't take it so much to heart as to offer a "thousand" apologies lor...really don't understand her!!
So the moral of the story is "Don't apologise unless there is a need to because you were at fault, it is not always nice to apologise for nothing you have done wrong. And even if you really did commit a minor mistake, there is no need for a "thousand" apologies!! A simple apology (as long as it's from the heart) will do!
Kimmie scribbles
11:59 pm |