Used to think digital apologies were lazy... now I get it

Back in 2019 I swore apology letters had to be handwritten on paper or they didn't count. I thought typing felt too cold and easy. But after my brother moved to Japan last year, I couldn't mail him a letter fast enough for something I messed up. So I typed out a long email apology instead, and he wrote back saying it meant more because he got it in 10 minutes instead of 2 weeks. Has anyone else changed their mind about what counts as a real apology?

3 comments

3 Comments

olivia_moore1d ago

My sister once got mad at me for not saying sorry fast enough after I borrowed her car and dinged the door. I wrote her this whole long letter on fancy paper and left it on her pillow, but she didn't even read it for three days because she was working double shifts. By then she'd already worked herself up thinking I didn't care. Now I just text people right away if I mess up, even if its just a quick "hey that was dumb of me sorry" because waiting for the perfect delivery just makes everything worse. The timing really does change how much weight the words carry.

the_lee1d agoMost Upvoted

Twenty bucks says your sister still brings that dent up at Thanksgiving dinners four years later. Mine does with the time I scraped her bumper backing out of a driveway in 2019.

dakota4151d ago

Yeah the gap between when you mess up and when you say sorry is everything... I learned that the hard way too. Now if I hit a curb or scratch something of someone else's I just send a quick "hey I owe you an apology for the car" text right when it happens. Even if you gotta follow up with a real talk later, that first message stops them from making up stories in their head about you not caring.