Inflation of Apologies: sorry but, j…..

In the last month or two, not a day has gone by without someone apologizing to someone else. One would say – a cultured nation, thus contradicting popular Gibonni’s verses. The range is fascinating. Sports, politics, urban planning, religion, marital relationships – wherever you look, everyone is seeking forgiveness.

The Prime Minister has recently been seeking more understanding for the economic situation and unpopular moves that will have to be made this year (we are still waiting to see what those moves are), apologizing to the governor for the attack by HDZ representative Goran Marić on the work of the Croatian National Bank, while the public awaits an apology for the conflict between her bodyguard and a journalist from Novi list during a visit to the shipyard (where the Prime Minister loudly shouted on stage: Long live Brodosplit! Long live Croatia! as if all those shipyards were not cheerfully smiling at the hyena called bankruptcy).

An apology from the police is also being demanded for the rough treatment of protesting farmers in Virovitica, but on the other hand, there has been progress in that area: the police apologized to a married couple whom they mistakenly entered their home and arrested.  SDP representative Mirela Holy asked for forgiveness from the people of Zagreb for wrong decisions in the City Assembly, Matija Babić regrets the publication of information that a pornographic video of Blanka Vlašić is circulating on the internet, and coach Stanko Poklepović apologizes to the audience for the draw between Hajduk and Rijeka because his club ‘did not respond to the brave, permanent, and soulless support of the fans throughout the 90 minutes of the match’.

However, the inflation of apologies on the home front also indicates that Croatia is following global trends. Namely, Pope Benedict XVI apologized to the victims of pedophile priests (he composed the entire letter), the executive vice president of Toyota apologized to vehicle owners with technical faults, the Japanese meteorological agency regrets the exaggerated reaction and the declaration of a maximum tsunami alert (and the evacuation of half a million people from the Pacific coast), and golfer Tiger Woods’ heart breaks due to marital infidelity. There are thousands of examples – both domestic and foreign, and the conclusion is one: a good apology is worth its weight in gold.

It is completely irrelevant what the wrongdoing is; it is important to say ‘sorry’. And the problem is solved. I do not know exactly when it was decided that for a wrong decision, assessment, move, theft, attack, poor performance of one’s job, betrayal of trust, and breaking promises, people go to a public confessional instead of, say, to court. The cameras turn on, makeup is touched up, a journalist asks the question: Tell us how you comment on corruption, crime, high unemployment, and general illiquidity? The responsible person fidgets in their chair, blushes a little, it is evident that they are not indifferent, but they know they must get that sentence out of their mouth and everything will be okay. The public breathes a sigh of relief when they see that with tears in their eyes they say: I’m sorry.