Sorry is the hardest word?

Really?

People always say that sorry seems to be the hardest word. We are all so encrusted that in our hard-shelled egos that by admitting our mistakes, we value ourselves much less. And our psyche takes a dent so hard that we want to shrivel up and disappear! Hence, when a person comes down his high and mighty horse to eat humble pie, he is admired for his virtuous act.

It sounds all dandy but it is really not so simple.

Of late, however, what we see insincere utterance of apologies just for the sake of it. How many times have we seen drivers driving under the intoxicants causing major catastrophes and all they can say is, "I am sorry!" Some lackadaisical teenage would have elbowed an antique, just to apologise, as if by doing so, the broken menagerie would somehow miraculously glue together as if like magic!

Yes, people say sorry without really meaning it. They know that the tragedy is no skin off their back and all the hardship is for others to endure. They know that apology is the easiest escape clause to avoid punishment. Whether they actually meant it or were genuine, it is immaterial. At least they said sorry, the least they could do. They know rhetorics and melodramatic tear-invoking histrionics works wonders all the time. Even the scriptures profess that God forgives those who repent (or at least appear that they do to qualify!)

What do you do to people who repeatedly do the same mistake and go on to say sorry and move on? Some even want you to say that it is alright when it is not! We work in a team and one's action or inaction would affect the other and put a serious dent in the whole social structure. To err is human, they say but to forgive is divine. Since we are mere mortals, forgiving wrongdoers does not fall into our domain. We just do what we think is right. Let God deal with Mercy!