They apologize when I ask them to speak louder, when they cannot easily answer a question, when I interrupt their flow of speech to ask for more information, when I tell them that we will wind up the session in a few minutes as time is running out. People ask forgiveness for being in my office in the first place. Their opening words may be an apology: “I am sorry to be taking up your time. I am sure there are many people waiting to see you who need help a lot more than I do.” Of course, they also apologize if they think they have too serious a problem: “I’m sorry, I know it’s difficult to help
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