Quote:
Originally Posted by Tsuwabuki
I find the generalisation of the USA apology to be slightly offensive. Nyororin was joking, but I am unsure if MissMisa was. That being said, let me rewrite the apology to how I would say it:
"I'm sorry I'm late, I woke up late, my alarm clock's batteries were dead. I also spoke to my mother before I went to sleep asking if she would be my back up, she agreed but did not follow through. I plan to replace the batteries, buy a second alarm clock with a plug, and ask a buddy to call me as well. This way I will prevent the mistake from happening again. It's my fault that I didn't put even more protections in place, and I will endeavor to prevent a repeat of this mistake."
This is very different from the tone used above in the other posts. When a subordinate makes a mistake, I expect all of the information above. Not just an apology, not just a promise that it won't happen again, but an explanation of why it happened, and how the subordinate will attempt to prevent it from happening again. I cannot evaluate how a subordinate learns if I don't know what processes are involved.
If you would read into the "mother" line as shifting the blame to her, you would be wrong. No blame is being shifted. Blame remains on the person apologising. It was my fault for trusting my mother to be a reliable back up, just as it was mine for not checking the batteries, and mine for not having a second alarm clock.
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Making a excuse is different than giving an apology. You are missing one important word in your "apology".
I am sorry I am late, BUT my mom didn't wake me up when I asked her to the night before...
In my experience Americans don't apologize when they feel they don't need to. The "but" negates the apology, and excuses like the one you wrote are like fingernails on a blackboard.
If you do not want to shift the blame to your mother, then don't mention her, because that is exactly what it sounds like you are doing. If your mother isn't trustworthy, then why are you asking her to wake you up? If you want to take responsibility, then take responsibility and apologize without making excuses.
But you aren't really going to ask me to believe that apology above is something you would really say in an actual conversation is it?