The one apology I never wrote to my dad about the tools I borrowed

I borrowed my dad's pipe wrench like 8 years ago when I first started plumbing, and I never gave it back because I sort of forgot. He didn't say anything for months, but I could tell he was ticked off when he finally asked where it was. Then when I finally brought it back, the handle had a crack from me dropping it on a concrete floor at a job site in Flint. I wanted to write him a letter saying sorry for being careless and for not just buying my own tools sooner, but I never did because I was embarrassed. I think part of me figured a verbal apology was enough, but it never really settled the air between us. Has anyone else messed up a borrowed item from a parent and just never found the right words to apologize?

3 comments

3 Comments

uma_williams1mo ago

Embarrassment with a side of cracked handle sounds about right for a tool apology.

the_simon1mo ago

Eh, is it really that deep? It's just a pipe wrench.

jessica1301mo ago

The 18 inch rigid pipe wrench I have has a crack in the handle from the factory, so I think that says a lot about quality control. Wrenches like that are for gripping and turning, not for feeling embarrassed about a bad tool. If the handle cracks on a new wrench, that's a defect not a personality flaw. Uma's got it backwards, the embarrassment is on the manufacturer for selling a cracked handle, not on the person using it.