Sorry

Colin Christian

This was part of a collabrative process to mark the 35th anniversary of said feline icon. I love the kitty, but I also think anyone over the age of twelve who wears anything emblazoned with the kitty should be shot.
A man fell in love with me based on some kitty inspired creativity, I fell in love back and it soured, but I don't hold it against her. Why do some logos, images, kittys, grow large and dominate our cultural imaginations while others wither and die? Hello Kitty faced a demise outside of Japan for a decade or so and then resurfaced with a vengance, it can't be simply clever marketing that got it back into favor. Sometimes I wish a Madison Ave ad executive would sit me down and explain that phenomenon to me.

Speaking of explaining things, I wish some one would show me how to handle people's childish behavior without regressing to that level. If you choose to ignore them (my default setting), then you're being passive agressive and hostile, and nothing gets resolved, and more festering ensues. If you engage, you lose out to naked agression, or have to deal with someone's complete inability to take responsibility for their actions. If you manage to muster the patience and the compassion necessary to follow the convoluted path of the blame-game arguement and find yourself either at an impasse or at that awful point where they say, you're right, I'm sorry, what have you gained except a sense that this person has sucked the life out of you to satisfy a need for attention, some faulty wiring in their own sad psyche?

I hate that part. The apology for deeds past, the apology for the hurt, the apology for inexcusable behaviour. I understand why it might be seen as necessary in order for people to move on but my soul wilts when I'm faced with that. It always seems to me that the apologizer gets more out of it than the recepient. (I should know, I considered starting my own AA, Apoligizers Anonymous, I was so addicted to the Sorry's.) "You're right, I'm sorry" comes as an epiphany of some sort, like the person wasn't aware of the impact their actions, like they are growing as human beings just by conceding to error. Screw sorry I say. Do something to fix it. Send flowers, post it notes, a voice message with a silly song, anything to show that there's a genuine desire to make amends. Hello Kitty judges you...

"Cat Among the Pigeons"