Apology!
Posted on: September 4, 2008
- In: Anguish | Corporate life | Food for thought | Life
- 37 Comments
- Name changed to protect privacy
Today Parth was very upset. Somehow everything was going hay-ward since morning.
First his car got bumped into another, then the person who had promised to deliver the material yesterday had not shown up till now and now he learnt from a colleague that one of the ABMs had not shown up for the training.
“What the hell!”, he thought.
He called the ABM and asked why he had not shown up.
“But sir, I informed Mr. Parth that i would not be able to come for the training!” ABM reasoned.
“You are talking to ‘Mr. Parth’ right now and I have not received any intimation till now” shouted Parth in the phone.
How the hell can this person lie so blatantly! Parth lost his temper and gave a piece of his mind to the ABM.
“With all said and done, at least tell me why you are not able to join us? Do you realise how important this training is for you and how much company is spending on your training?”
The ABM was now almost in tears. He still maintained that he had informed the head office. ,
“Sir, my 6 year old son has been diagnosed with cancer last week and I will have to take him for the surgery on Saturday!” he added.
Parth was shocked. He mumbled something and disconnected the phone. He went and checked his mail and there was his mail starring at him from the screen. He felt so ashamed of himself. He mopped around for a while and but could not concentrate on anything!
Ultimately, he gathered the courage and called the ABM again to apologise.
37 Responses to "Apology!"
September 4, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Fast paced life-we just need a victim to blurt out all our frustration on!
Awwww…I will pray for the kid!
All of us should.
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September 4, 2008 at 2:15 pm
So easily we give in to the frustration right ? And sometimes I feel if we had power to withdraw the words it have been better !! He did the right thing .
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September 4, 2008 at 2:19 pm
I echo what Soham said. So many people feel ashamed to apologize, big bloated egos that they have. In fact the word “ego” itself seems to have got a positive connotation nowadays, with people thinking that having an “ego” is a good thing. They confuse ego and pride. Having pride is a good thing. People who have pride will never hesitate to admit a mistake. They would feel too ashamed to live with treating someone unfairly.
People with egos will hide it. Generally anyone with an “ego” (not being used in the technical psychological meaning) is too big for his/her boots. They have such an image that they need to cultivate outwardly, that of someone infallible, someone who is perfect and does not make mistakes. They often don’t realise that no one is perfect, not even them.
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September 4, 2008 at 2:31 pm
By the way, I hope that kid successfully survives the surgery and the cancer too .. I will pray for him/her ..
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September 4, 2008 at 3:35 pm
@ Soham
yeah, very few people really can apologize! Even my six year old, when asked to apologize for her mistake, doen’t like to do it!!
@ Mahak
The life is so fast and stressed, we hardly think of anybody else as a human being and hence rarely think before responding!
I pray for the kid too!
@ Bluemist
yeah, as it is said in the hindu mythology “words and arrows, once shot, can never be retracted!” and words can cause more damage than arrows sometimes!
@ Nita
*They often don’t realise that no one is perfect, not even them.*
and i echo you! 🙂 Nobody is perfect and i think that at one point of time if a person admits his/her mistake the respect of him/her increases in the other person’s mind, for the simple reason that it is damn difficult to accept your own mistake!
@ Soham
I pray for the kid too! No kid deserve to suffer in anyway! 🙂
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September 4, 2008 at 4:31 pm
One more courage, i like to encourage tht he admits to you also. (as it happened inbtwn them)
May god save tht child.
(tht ABM may have made d story about problem.) As in today’s world people can do anything. – i wish tht shouldn’t b d case.
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September 4, 2008 at 4:44 pm
how often do we do this, right? so bloody insensitive we become on the face of our goals…
Nice blog…really liked reading it and will be back for more…
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September 4, 2008 at 5:05 pm
oh…
prayers for the kid…
ya i think to apologize and to forgive are the most difficult tasks…
I feel it very hard to forgive somebody who has some or the other way hurt me..It needs lot of time and courage. The same is with apology; though I am more comfortable with apology than forgiveness.
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September 4, 2008 at 5:41 pm
Awwww…praying for the kid !
And yes, apology is a great gesture! Sometimes, people prefer their ego to remain intact and do not apologise. Sometimes, people try to get away with ‘an apology’.
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September 4, 2008 at 5:52 pm
Aren’t we all guilty of jumping to conclusions??? I mean it happens with me all the time though am not as rude.
Sometimes I realise later & say sorry & sometimes I don’t realise.
Everytime I realise I promise myself that in future I’ll think twice thrice before jumping to conclusion but when the next time pops up it is the same story 😦
Guess I need to work out a lot on myself. What say???
PS Lovely theme 🙂
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September 4, 2008 at 9:12 pm
Apology requires courage, it is not easy to acknowledge our own mistake.
Sometimes we cannot realize we have made a mistake, or sometimes even when we realize we are not ready to accept it.( I guess as rightly said by Nita “EGO” is the reason.)
When we feel life is hard to us, and everything is going around us, we forget about rest of the world, others might have a worse case than ours!!
We knowingly/unknowingly take out our frustations on others and sometimes on our people close to us, not realizing what they might be going through.
I will end the comment with praying for the well being of the kid, for strenghth for the ABP and calmness to Parth.
A very touching post!!
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September 4, 2008 at 10:46 pm
Nice 🙂
I guess everyone says things out of haste and anger that they regret later on. But few apologize. The few who have the guts to do so.
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September 4, 2008 at 11:42 pm
Its not hard to apologize. But its just that some of us don’t have the courage to let go our ego.
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September 5, 2008 at 8:20 am
Sometimes without knowing the background, tells anything but one should have the courtesey and guts to apologise which very few people have. ‘I’ comes before ‘E’ (Ego).
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September 5, 2008 at 9:37 am
@ James
You never were so cynical! Corporate culture is taking toll on you or what? 😉 😛 But to tell you frankly, it is 100% possible that the ABM is lying… anything can happen in the corporate world!\
@ Harish
yeah… sometimes the work pressure is so much that we forget that we are dealing with humans and not machienes!
Welcome to my blog! 🙂 hope to see you around. I visited your blog too and enjoyed reading it too!
@ Bindu
Mee too! It is easy for me to apologise than to forgive, especially when i have been hurt deeply. Sometimes i wish that i leave the bitterness behind me, but for some particular people i just can’t do it.
@ Vishu
yeah, that shows his intergrity!! 🙂
@ Pria
No doubt his gesture was good! But as you say some people apologise on the drop of a hat and hardly mean it. I know a very close relative, who is always ready to say sorry, but would continue to hurt but doing same thing again and again.
@ Pria and Bindu
Thanks buddies 🙂 🙂 i wanted change. Was tired of looking at grey colour myself 🙂
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September 5, 2008 at 9:49 am
@ Smita
yes we are all the same, at one point or another. And when you say that you realise and apologise, its a good gesture. But when you don’t realise it at all, its ok! you are not super human… We do mistakes and realising and correcting it is what is important. 🙂 🙂
And thank you so much for the compliments on the theme!! 🙂 🙂
@ Sharad
Ditto!! But i think it is not always ‘ego’! Sometimes it is just a missed opportunity or the other person is so scared of the rebuff that he/she can’t apologise! But yes, most of the time it is ego.
We all are praying for the kid, but as James suggested here, the ABM can be lying! you never know.
@ Xylene
“Immitation is the best form of flattery” 🙂 😉
@ Jean
Ditto! but easier said then done! 🙂
Welcome to my blog 🙂
@ Amit
hmmmm…. for me atleast, it is easy to apologise but difficult to forgive!
@ Jemal
good one 🙂
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September 5, 2008 at 9:50 am
@ Jemal
I can’t go to your blog as your name is not linked! 😦
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September 5, 2008 at 11:32 am
A common occurence keeps happening to all of us in different circumstances. “Parth lost is temper” – How often we lose ours, even before we have the details! I think we should avoid losing our temper, wherever possible – And especially when impossible!
My first visit to your blog…will come back for more whenever time permits.
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September 5, 2008 at 2:41 pm
The last line grants my appology to him…it takes a lot to do that 🙂
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September 5, 2008 at 3:06 pm
It takes lots of guts to say sorry to someone especially when it’s a professional environment… your character’s gesture revealed that he is nice hearted fellow. It’s just sometimes the things around you go out of hand and you lose control on your mind and judging abilities.
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September 5, 2008 at 4:11 pm
Sakhi, I really forgot to tell you that good theme. different & nice.
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September 5, 2008 at 8:38 pm
Keep your words soft and tender because tomorrow you may have to eat them. ~Author Unknown
An apology is the superglue of life. It can repair just about anything. ~Lynn Johnston
sums up all the things I want to say.
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September 5, 2008 at 10:55 pm
Parth actually felt sorry after knowing his lachari-bhari situation. Why does it take some drastic tragic situation like that to make an apology to someone? I don’t understand. I agree with one of the previous comments, it takes a lot of guts to say sorry to someone when it’s your fault. And even more to say sorry when it is NOT your fault and you know it.
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September 6, 2008 at 12:03 am
really good lesson for those who dont think properly even if they are keeping their temper cool…
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September 6, 2008 at 7:56 am
@ Gopinath
*I think we should avoid losing our temper, wherever possible – And especially when impossible!* Well said… but as i have mentioned earlier, easier said then done!!
Welcome to my blog and hope to see you around… Am off to yours as soon as i finish replying to the comments! 🙂 🙂
@ MeghnaK
Yes, A lot of guts! 🙂
@ WW
Absolutely… and in today’s hectic lifestyle this happens even more often!
And hey, i thought you were on a forced break!! 😉 🙂
Glad to see you here!
@ James
Thanks, sweetie! 🙂
@ Arvind
haan, it needs integrity and guts to apologise! 🙂
@ Reems
🙂 But i don’t really agree to the second quote!~ Most of the time apology would do wonders to the relationship but if it becomes a habit to hurt and then apologise, it would lose its essence and meaning!
I know this from my own experience… now i can’t believe that other person nor do i think the apology is sincere! But then, i am not know to forgive easily! I think i need to work on this side of my nature!!
What say?
@ Kanan
It would be very difficult to apologise when it is NOT your fault! Absolutely distressing! I would blow my fuse if i have to do it and if i didnt any have other way, i would simply cry at the end, though in the comfort of my bedroom!!
@ Harsh
yeah 🙂
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September 6, 2008 at 7:55 pm
Sometimes, words can hurt more than swords. Even deep wounds inflicted by a sword heal over a period of time. A deep emotional wound inflicted by words (even if they seem to be innocuous at first sight) is not so easy to heal. An apology is the best ointment for an emotional wound, but when it is not offered, the relationship gets damaged permanently. Each one decides for himself/herself and Mr. Parth has shown great courage by admitting his mistake.
I hope the unfortunate kid recovers completely as soon as possible.
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September 7, 2008 at 10:19 am
i completely agree and i wish the same for the kid 🙂
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September 7, 2008 at 10:27 am
oops! this is a true story. Itz good that atlease he apologized. I wish the kid for a speedy recovery!
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September 24, 2008 at 9:38 am
But this was a true strory and as it is said, truth is worst than the fiction (or something of that nature!!)
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Sakhi's Laghukatha 
September 4, 2008 at 12:17 pm
** Ultimately, he gathered the courage and called the ABM again to apologise. **
This was the perfect gesture .. He called and he apologized .. This gesture did not make him small but actually it made him more noble and more respected among his staff members .. Though it requires guts ..
Very few peole do it these days if you are his subordinate or even a colleague ..
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