8 Ways You Should <em>Never</em> Apologize

Despite what that old chestnut Love Story will have you believe, love doesn't mean never having to say you're sorry. In fact, one of the most important components of any relationship is the ability to suck it up and apologize every now and again. It's hardly brain surgery, but who among us hasn't been the recipient of an apology that wound up making you feel even worse than the original transgression?

For something that's basically a no-brainer, there's a bevy of ways to get it very, very wrong. In fact, the late Randy Pausch's bestseller, The Last Lecture has an entire chapter called "A bad apology is worse than no apology." Now granted, men are definitely more prone to the botched apology (see John Edwards, Bill Clinton, etcetera), but we ladies have also been known to blow an act of contrition on occasion. After the jump, some apology strategies to avoid...

Keep reading...