Jay Rayner's New Web Site

May 22, 2004 8:11 PM

Sorry Is The New Screw You: Whatever happened to "Never explain, never apologize"? Apparently, it went the way of Mrs Thatcher's state banquets...
posted by MiguelCardoso (10 comments total)

I hope that story of Maggie Thatcher eating boogers is true. I'm sorry.
posted by stonerose at 8:34 PM on May 22, 2004

Hmm, I usually think of 'apologist' as being a pejorative term. Anyway, a lot of these seemed either not to be apologies, or to be aimed at making the apologiser rather than the apologisee feel better. Or, is that the point, and I have completely missed what this is about?
posted by carter at 11:03 PM on May 22, 2004

yay for oats for doing what he felt he needed to do... we need more peeps like him to step up to the plate this fall. wanna make a little extra change catering next fall cardoso?
posted by specialk420 at 12:09 AM on May 23, 2004

The U.S. government is jumping into the apology space.
posted by geronimo_rex at 5:23 AM on May 23, 2004

The apology formally died when "I'm sorry" got replaced by "I'm sorry you feel that way" (trans.: "I'm not the least bit sorry at all. You, however, have some sort of problem.")

They were one of the death knells of actual "service" in the service economy, as in: "Oh, you're upset over getting lousy service? Well, I'm very sorry you feel that way. Have a nice day!"
posted by Stoatfarm at 10:39 AM on May 23, 2004

Lordy I agree with this. My girlfriend and I even have a joke about this change. Long ago, after one of us pulled something, the other called bullshit and the first said they were "sorry".

When the second person was still upset the first said "I SAID I was SORRY!", as if a) that got them off the hook, or b) screw you and c) quit making me feel bad for f' ing UP!!

(It wasn't a big event per se, but has turned into this joke when we see this kind of "sorry/screw you" attitude and just as this post points out, its seems to be everywhere.) feh.
posted by asparagus_berlin at 1:18 PM on May 23, 2004

In other news, I've heard that black is the new black.
posted by kaibutsu at 8:19 PM on May 23, 2004

Huh?

"Sorry is the New Screw You" is a cute phrase, at least as trendy as all the "Puke Green is the New Black" cliches - but where exactly are you feeling the hostiity in these apologies? Obviously some of them are premature and full of bitterness, but "screw you" hardly sounds like a fair encapsulation of the site's mission or content. Way to accentuate the negative, Miguel.
posted by scarabic at 10:45 PM on May 23, 2004

I read that "good morning" is the new "outta my way, jackoff."
posted by mcgraw at 8:12 AM on May 24, 2004

Me, I'm annoyed that "sorry" is the new "excuse me". As in:
"'Excuse me' before I bump into you"
has been replaced by
*BUMP* "...Oh, sorry." (but not really)
posted by Down10 at 12:55 PM on May 24, 2004