What an over-worked, over-used word!
Every time you turn around, someone is saying "sorry!" And I want to say "Sorry for what?" Because you stepped in front of me going through a door? So what? Because you took up more than half of the grocery aisle? So what? Because you reached in front of me for something on a shelf? So what? Take a moment and add up how many times someone says to you, in the course of a normal day "sorry." Then try to take stock of whether this was just lips moving, or was there something behind the admonition.
Webster's definition, paraphrased, says that "sorry" means: full of sorrow, pity, or sympathy; also an expression of mild regret; inferior in worth or quality; wretched, miserable.
Except for perhaps the phrase "expression of mild regret", none of those definitions apply to your behavior in the above scenarios, in my mind. I'd rather hear a simply "pardon me" or "excuse me", but "sorry...?" It flows off everyone's tongue as though it's a brush-off.
I do say I'm "sorry" if I cause someone a grave inconvenience (such as actually trampling their feet in a movie theater), after I've said "excuse me" while moving down the row. But otherwise, I'm usually NOT sorry if I do something that might very temporarily inconvenience you. Could you imagine saying "sorry" every time you jostled someone on the subway train, or the over-crowded bus? But I guess that's just me, on Day 100!
Every time you turn around, someone is saying "sorry!" And I want to say "Sorry for what?" Because you stepped in front of me going through a door? So what? Because you took up more than half of the grocery aisle? So what? Because you reached in front of me for something on a shelf? So what? Take a moment and add up how many times someone says to you, in the course of a normal day "sorry." Then try to take stock of whether this was just lips moving, or was there something behind the admonition.
Webster's definition, paraphrased, says that "sorry" means: full of sorrow, pity, or sympathy; also an expression of mild regret; inferior in worth or quality; wretched, miserable.
Except for perhaps the phrase "expression of mild regret", none of those definitions apply to your behavior in the above scenarios, in my mind. I'd rather hear a simply "pardon me" or "excuse me", but "sorry...?" It flows off everyone's tongue as though it's a brush-off.
I do say I'm "sorry" if I cause someone a grave inconvenience (such as actually trampling their feet in a movie theater), after I've said "excuse me" while moving down the row. But otherwise, I'm usually NOT sorry if I do something that might very temporarily inconvenience you. Could you imagine saying "sorry" every time you jostled someone on the subway train, or the over-crowded bus? But I guess that's just me, on Day 100!
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