A New York Times editorial about women’s proclivity for apologising for things that aren’t their fault has been making the rounds on social media this week.
For many of us, the article hit home in a pretty profound way, especially the scene where the author, Sloane Crosley, described saying “sorry” multiple times for a restaurant messing up her order, something over which she had absolutely no control and for which she, in fact, should have been receiving apologies.
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I particularly loved reading Crosley’s insights about how the word “sorry,” for women, doesn’t always indicate accountability or even an apology. In cases of obvious rudeness or injustice, we’ve come to use “sorry” as “a prompt for the person who should be apologising.”
She’s right that there’s a ton of nuance in the way many of us preface certain statements with apologies. That being said, there are still some cut-and-dry scenarios where the word “sorry” is never, ever needed — and some when it is. Let’s review them, shall we?
Woman who are unapologetically themselves
20 Things You Should Never Apologise For:
1. Someone else bumping into you on the street.
2. Asking that a mistake be corrected — whether it’s a huge error your coworker made that you’re being blamed for, or being handed the wrong drink at Starbucks.
3. Speaking your mind. (Post continues after gallery.)
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4. Ordering dessert.
5. Returning something that’s defective.
6. Getting up to use the bathroom on a crowded airplane, no matter how dramatically the person in the aisle seat sighs (those aisle-seat people are ALL ABOUT DRAMA).
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