Apologies

"Sorry I'm late," I offered, joining a 30 minute meeting 15 minutes late. "I got caught up in my last experiment." I nodded as the leader caught me up and offered an update on my own portion of the project. I apologized again when I left on time, though the meeting wasn't over, for I'd scheduled something else directly after.

"Right," I said to the telephone. "But your product isn't good, which is a problem. So I need the replacement. Soon." Then I apologized for my tough stance later - I like this particular company, but I'm not cool with a crappy piece of equipment.

"This is great," a colleague offered and I shrugged before saying I regretted that it had taken so long to offer the numbers he sought. "I'll do better next time," I promised.

"I'm sorry," I told a friend, speaking softly and reaching to touch her arm.

"It's not your fault," she replied, blinking back tears.

"I know," I offered. "But I'm still sorry." It turns out feeling badly about various events most of the day exhausts me. Just one of those days, I suppose.