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A little apology can be good for the soul
© by Mike Keenan 
Yesterday, I passed by my neighbour, Fred, while we were out on separate walks trying to get some fresh air from being cooped up all day watching the Olympic coverage which seems exhaustive. There are little extras that I do appreciate such as the segments on people who "have made a difference" hosted by Rick Hansen of "man in motion" fame. Rick in his wheelchair has always been an inspiration, so I thought it was a nice touch by CTV to employ him as host. Probably that says a lot more about Canada than much of the extravaganza associated with the Winter Games. Last time I saw a gentleman in a wheelchair featured on U.S. television, it was Raymond Burr, good old Perry Mason, this time playing Chief Ironside.
Rick Hansen was given the honour of participating in the Torch Relay and lighting the community cauldron at the celebration in his hometown of Richmond, BC. As a crowd of nearly 20,000 people watched, Rick arrived and wheeled his course, high-fiving onlookers and cheering with the crowd, as he made his way up to the stage where he proudly lit the cauldron. The excitement and exhilaration was palpable, and it was a moment Rick will not soon forget. "To be able to light the cauldron in Richmond is one of my proudest moments," he said. He topped that with his participation in Vancouver along with Gretzky and others. So as I passed Fred, I was feeling pretty good so I said, "Fred, I just want to apologize. I should have known better." "Not a problem, Mike," Fred replied and waved me on. And I repeated that with my barber, Fernando, my grocer, Rodrigo, my newspaper girl, Connie and of course, my wife, Miriam. They all seemed okay with my apologies. I'm finding that this dynamic is exploding like a virus amongst all of my friends and acquaintances. We are all apologizing all the time. And it appears to make people feel much better about the world as the effect spreads. The president of Toyota's U.S. operations apologized for the company's slow handling of sudden acceleration problems in its vehicles. The big boss in Japan, Toyota President Akio Toyoda has indicated he will apologize to Congress which has seen its fair share of apologies over the years. Terrorists are apologizing for their misdeeds and NATO military leaders are appearing on Afghanistan TV to apologize for yet another disaster involving the bombing and destruction of civilian vehicles. Former MLB home run king Hank Aaron says that Mark McGwire should now have a clear conscience after his recent apology for using performance-enhancing drugs as a player. Aaron wished McGwire had done it earlier and said America will forgive players who tell the truth. He said any player who used enhancing drugs "should come clean and be able to sleep at night." You might recall that Aaron hit a record 755 home runs for the Braves and Brewers. The record was broken by Barry Bonds, who has pleaded not guilty to charges of lying when he told a federal grand jury in 2003 that he never knowingly used steroids. Barry, if you are out there, it's time to follow Mark McGwire. A little apology is good for the soul. I find that this behaviour is carrying over big time to the street. In crowds I frequently hear people say, "Pardon me. You go first." "No, please, you first." "Excuse me." "Sorry" It's amazing; it's like we all have something heavy to get off our collective chest. Local police don't know what to do. Crime rates are dropping faster than the TSX. Police Chief, Wendy Southall, admits that she might have to lay off officers, request a smaller headquarters in South Welland and perhaps go on a personal holiday until things pick up. The Pope has apologized; the G-G has apologized, Prime Minister Stephen...oops, scratch him; we need a few hearty souls out there who simply will not apologize for anything. They make the rest of us look like saints. |
