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Jun. 27th, 2011 10:19 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
qcontinuumOOC: Crossposted from Theatrical Muse today.
Prompt 388: Who do you owe an apology to?
"Owe an apology." That's an interesting phrase. It implies that a transaction of some sort has occurred, that an apology is some kind of payment for goods received. That one has the right to demand an apology of another.
I have to question that, seriously. An apology is an expression of one person's regret for their own actions. How can you owe another person an emotion? Your emotions are your own. No one has the right to tell you what to feel, and thus, no one can be owed any emotion, regret or otherwise.
I don't owe anyone an apology. No one did me services in exchange for my freely agreeing to pay them with an apology. It's not likely that I'd take that deal, either, unless I sincerely meant an apology and in that case probably I'd have apologized already... okay, maybe not. I'm not the biggest fan of apologizing at any time, if you must know. But even if I wanted to apologize, the fact that someone else was demanding it of me would make me lose all interest in doing it.
Now. Is there anyone I've harmed, where I regret harming them?
That, I would have to say yes to. But that's not what you asked.
There are those I wish I could undo the harm I'd done to them, or express to them my regret. Generally speaking, I haven't apologized to them, either because they're dead, or because I don't see the point. If I can fix the harm I did, and I regret doing it, then I'll have already fixed it and I don't need to apologize. And if I can't fix the harm, then what good does it do to say some words? That's hardly going to help.
But even if I felt that apologizing would solve anything, even if I were inclined to apologize... I still wouldn't owe one to anyone.
Muse: Q
Fandom: Star Trek TNG and VOY
Prompt 388: Who do you owe an apology to?
"Owe an apology." That's an interesting phrase. It implies that a transaction of some sort has occurred, that an apology is some kind of payment for goods received. That one has the right to demand an apology of another.
I have to question that, seriously. An apology is an expression of one person's regret for their own actions. How can you owe another person an emotion? Your emotions are your own. No one has the right to tell you what to feel, and thus, no one can be owed any emotion, regret or otherwise.
I don't owe anyone an apology. No one did me services in exchange for my freely agreeing to pay them with an apology. It's not likely that I'd take that deal, either, unless I sincerely meant an apology and in that case probably I'd have apologized already... okay, maybe not. I'm not the biggest fan of apologizing at any time, if you must know. But even if I wanted to apologize, the fact that someone else was demanding it of me would make me lose all interest in doing it.
Now. Is there anyone I've harmed, where I regret harming them?
That, I would have to say yes to. But that's not what you asked.
There are those I wish I could undo the harm I'd done to them, or express to them my regret. Generally speaking, I haven't apologized to them, either because they're dead, or because I don't see the point. If I can fix the harm I did, and I regret doing it, then I'll have already fixed it and I don't need to apologize. And if I can't fix the harm, then what good does it do to say some words? That's hardly going to help.
But even if I felt that apologizing would solve anything, even if I were inclined to apologize... I still wouldn't owe one to anyone.
Muse: Q
Fandom: Star Trek TNG and VOY