Oh, Boo Hoo Hoo

In what passes for contemporary culture:

1) It is evidently necessary to apologize for any perceived injury, real or imaginary.

2) It is evidently necessary to grovel- abjectly.

3) It is now becoming de rigueur to characterize the offense being apologized for as "inexcusable."

4) It is also becoming very common for people -whether or not they have what would be called in court "standing to sue," i.e., they were not the supposedly aggrieved party- to refuse to accept the apology. For an example of this, take the Way-Bac Machine to about a year ago, and review Hizzoner Al Sharpton's responses in the Don Imus / Rutgers fiasco.

For those who may not be familiar with this phenomenon, consult the Washington State case of the cancer patient ordered to remove her hat in the courtroom.

.....but this is only the tip of the iceberg, even though it contains all the essential elements of the current disease.

Questions raised include:

1) Is all this apologizing just an attempt to equate the putative offender with the victim, the "We're all just victims" nonsense? (cf. present political campaigning, if you don't understand what this is about.)

2) Nothing is more characteristic of human beings than mistakes. Whatever happened to "Um- I didn't think about that. Never mind?" Instead, it's become "I am a filthy bastard and not fit to pick your nose, o you whose very feces are an untrammeled delight."

3) An apology, by definition, craves pardon. If it's inexcusable, why apologize in the first place?

4) Am I going to bump someone in the grocery store tomorrow, say "Excuse me," and have another person standing within earshot say "I absolutely refuse to accept your apology?"

5) How much weirder is this country going to get?