Mistakes and apologies

When a person makes a mistake, typically an apology ensues. It only takes two simple words to communicate remorse and, hopefully, receive forgiveness: “I’m sorry.”  
   
Some of the time, that’s all it takes to erase the mistake and move on. However, when public figures mess up, a two-word apology doesn’t suffice – and neither does a half-hearted one.

There are different ways to apologize. A wide range of apology styles have been exhibited this past week from Michael Phelps, Miley Cyrus, President Obama, Christian Bale and other public figures who did something controversial, got chastised by the media and gave their obligatory apologies.

Senator Tom Daschle apologized for neglecting to pay certain taxes from 2005 to 2007. However, in his apology he claimed that his mistakes were “unintentional.” That’s not exactly an apology – it’s an excuse.

However, some pundits said Daschle’s apology was better than President Obama’s who said “I screwed up” when talking about his nominees with tax problems and left it at that. These commentators thought it was honorable of Daschle to withdraw his name from nomination for Secretary of Health and Human Services and that his was a sufficient apology.

I disagree. His decision to withdraw from nomination was not a public apology, and neither was his actual public apology.

He became a poster boy for the unethical behavior in Washington and realized that he might have trouble being confirmed since Obama is trying to promote “change.”
Miley Cyrus, who should probably have an apology template saved to her desktop by now, also issued an apology earlier this week for a photo that seemed to be mocking Asians. She used the word “sorry” but didn’t claim fault for her actions. In fact, she blamed the media for obsessively monitoring her every move.

Public figures will often resent the media for examining their actions under a microscope. But the media aren’t entirely to blame. In this age of technology, the Internet and the explosion that results by combining the two through a USB cord, it’s so easy for mistakes to be caught and displayed for the world to see.

Facebook is the most obvious example of college students being scrutinized. We’re living in an era when our actions are made public, our mistakes even more public and our apologies analyzed.

Some people monitor their own actions before giving others the opportunity. Though it’s nice to think that simply monitoring our actions is good enough, it’s difficult to achieve an untainted reputation – especially given college’s numerous temptations. It seems there’s dirt on almost every student enrolled at every university across the country, and finding it is easier than ever.  

Most people aren’t celebrities, but we seem to get caught for our wrongdoings just as frequently.

Though we don’t have to issue formal apologies when we get caught, it’s still a good idea to perfect the art of the apology – and to avoid looking to Miley Cyrus, Tom Daschle or Michael Phelps for direction.