Quote:
Originally Posted by noodle
I think all of you are generalising here! First of all, I'm going to assume that apologising in the US is the same as the UK, in which case, people don't always make excuses when they apologise! Secondly, I think it's a terrible idea to prefer just an apology ALL THE TIME instead of getting an explanation! The perpetrator can get away with so much if all it took was an apology to get someone off their back! With that said, sometimes, in certain situations, I do agree that an apology would be better than an explanation!
|
I fully agree with that actually. I think it's always nice to hear an appology, but if there's never an 'excuse' with it then somtimes it sounds insincere or as if the other person's trivialising the situation. If someone's done you an injustice I think you're fully entitled to hear why, and judge then if its a good excuse or not, rather than hear what's a probably insincere apology that means nothing on it's own. In this respect I think I'd prefer the US/UK approach to appologising over the Japanese way.
On a side note, can I ask why the Americans make such a huge deal over air-conditioning? Here in the UK our climate/weather is pretty similar in tempreture to Japan (or so I've read). We use central heating in winter, but I've never known a single English person to use air-conditioning, not even in many places of work, and we all survive fine. I find it hard to believe living in Japan is so much more difficult without air-conditioning, or is it simply a matter of beng used to luxuries and then enduring shock when that luxury is taken away from you as you move abroad?