The 3 elements of a sincere apology

My husband and I recently finished a major kitchen renovation. While it looks great, there were certainly a few bumps along the way.

Last week, Pete, our contractor, arrived to install two hallway doors. We’d waited a couple of weeks for the doors, and this was the final step to complete the project.

But renovations being what they are, we hit a glitch. Pete made a mistake. Instead of trimming the bottom of one of the doors, he trimmed the top. The door didn’t fit, and we had to order a new door. This delayed the job another couple of weeks.

I arrived home moments after Pete realized his error. His face was white. Sweat beaded on his brow. I thought something truly catastrophic had happened.

“I’m so sorry,” he said. “I wasn’t thinking, and I trimmed the wrong end of the door. I can’t believe I made that kind of mistake.”

Peter was genuinely distraught and apologetic for what he had done. After delivering a few more heart-felt mea culpas (and denying my assurances that it wasn’t the end of the world), he drove off to Home Depot to order another door.