Sorry about that....

Been a hectic week, which is why this is only the second article since the 11th.  So I'm sorry about that, which segues nicely into the subject of today's epistle: 'sorry' seems the hardest word.  This week a hospital apologised (and paid substantial damages) to a woman whose baby died as a consequence of their failures.  But hospitals - along with councils, Government departments, officials, big companies, small companies, schools, the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, the church, individuals, parents, children and animals all make mistakes. Which is why it seems odd that the bigger the organisation, the less willing or likely it is to apologise for them.

It's possible it has something to do with immediacy. If we bump into someone at the supermarket, our first reaction (in most peoples' case) is to apologise, whether or not we're the one at fault.  But if a supermarket prices something incorrectly, it's left to the embarrassed check out operator to do the niceties, when it ought to be the senior manager.

But it happens to us.  When we're driving, it's not really practicable  to stop and apologise when we realise that we didn't indicate at the last exit, which is why the car behind did a fair impression of a stunt driver in the latest Bond movie trying to escape the clutches of Garglesmith, or whoever the latest villain might be.  But nothing stops us waving apologetically, yet we often don't.  Of course, that applies only to those drivers who aren't entirely oblivious of their surroundings, as some seem, especially first thing in the morning.

However, the local councils are the ones that have most to do with our day to day lives, yet they either don't make any mistakes or they're the most reluctant to apologise of all.

Perhaps it's to do with the fear of litigation, perhaps it's something to do with the lack of clarity in the lines between councillors and paid officials as to exactly who is responsible for what.  Whatever the issue, it would be nice to hear councils and their officials occasionally say 'Sorry;  we got it wrong'.  Perhaps then we just might have a little more confidence in them