Sorry, Not Sorry

Apologizing my way through life—and proud of it.

Again, another grocery shopping story. I can read your minds right now - doesn’t that Debbie Dunne have anything else to write about other than what happens to her in a grocery store. Clearly NOT.

So here’s my story: I have this habit of saying ‘Sorry’ even when it’s not my fault. Barry is always asking me to stop saying ‘Sorry’. And how do I reply, ‘oh sorry’. Then we laugh and laugh and laugh!

I think I am a Canadian par excellence.

Here I am in the grocery store and this sort of good-looking man who is about 50 years old almost bumps into me and I say ‘Sorry’. Me!! And what does he do? Just looks at me with a wee bit of contempt. Ok, maybe I made that part up but he doesn’t laugh with me, or say, No No it was my fault or many other things one could say.

I carry on and as I turn the next corner, we almost collide again. And what did I say? You guessed it - ‘Sorry’. This time it was kinda both our faults. He doesn’t say a word - just carries on and looks very annoyed. That one was true.

It’s a pretty big store and obviously we were on the same route so another encounter was inevitable. Again, ‘Sorry’ comes out of my mouth! I’m beginning to see a pattern here and finding it ridiculously humorous. If not annoying.

So the last ‘Sorry’ happened as I was checking out and he was behind me. Ah, I started to think he had a secret crush on me and was playing hard to get. Don’t laugh, it could happen. The fact that I was about 20 years older made no difference. Let me have this one, ok! Because I got to thinking—how could he not find the humour in this? I mean, I find humour in just saying ‘Sorry.’ And the fact that I had already said it three times should have at least gotten a chuckle. But No!

Ok, so back to the last ‘Sorry’ - I put my cart way over to the side while I packed up my groceries. I wanted to make sure it wasn’t in his way. I was still packing my food away when he had to move over to the next belt. As predicted he made a sigh as he had to get by my cart - which was not in his way in the slightest. But inexplicably I say, ‘Sorry’. Then I just laughed. Out loud. I could not believe that I gave this guy four Sorrys and none were my fault.

But sadly, it appeared that this good-enough-looking younger guy just couldn’t wait to get away from me. What the heck. My hair wasn’t matted. I didn’t have spinach in my teeth. Come on - I wore a really nice bright pink coat and I kept smiling. What’s not to like, right!!??

What if he thought I was out of his league? What do you think? Because how could anyone not find it funny that some white haired woman kept saying ‘Sorry’ even when she didn’t have to.

I wonder if he was playing hard to get. Yep, that’s the only explanation. I’m sticking with it.

Grocery stores are full of human relation stories, don’t you find.