Apologies
I've received the most amazing apologies over the last two weeks. As the news of a certain industry bigwig's misdeeds broke behind the scenes, I received phone calls and e-mails from colleagues in the game industry, apologizing for being fooled by the smoke and mirrors, for having lent their credibility to the platform and the agenda of someone who had, in their eyes, betrayed their trust (in addition to my privacy). It certainly took a lot for those people to apologize to me, not that I expected any such apologies, and those apologies were meaningful to me.
More recently, as the news reached a wider audience, I was stunned to receive yet more apologies from people who felt they'd wronged me. Not in any direct way, just by quietly holding onto a belief that I was over-reacting to simple personality conflicts, or being unforgiving. Although these people had never confronted me, never berated me, never back-stabbed me, nor let on in any way that they held these unfavorable opinions of me, of their own accord they were moved to apologize for their privately held opinions! I was deeply touched.
Especially my feelings toward the people who have absolutely, without question, wronged me in recent months. The predictable lack of any apologies from those who have the most to apologize for is glaringly apparent amidst these heart-felt, unsolicited confessions from unexpected quarters.
There are two things about me that have been solid truths for my whole life: if someone has something to say to me, I want to hear it to my face; and the person who recognizes his dickwad behavior and tries to make it right is far, far higher in my esteem than the guy who ignores or rationalizes away the wrongs he's inflicted.
I have more thoughts on apologies to share, but they'll have to wait for now.
More recently, as the news reached a wider audience, I was stunned to receive yet more apologies from people who felt they'd wronged me. Not in any direct way, just by quietly holding onto a belief that I was over-reacting to simple personality conflicts, or being unforgiving. Although these people had never confronted me, never berated me, never back-stabbed me, nor let on in any way that they held these unfavorable opinions of me, of their own accord they were moved to apologize for their privately held opinions! I was deeply touched.
Especially my feelings toward the people who have absolutely, without question, wronged me in recent months. The predictable lack of any apologies from those who have the most to apologize for is glaringly apparent amidst these heart-felt, unsolicited confessions from unexpected quarters.
There are two things about me that have been solid truths for my whole life: if someone has something to say to me, I want to hear it to my face; and the person who recognizes his dickwad behavior and tries to make it right is far, far higher in my esteem than the guy who ignores or rationalizes away the wrongs he's inflicted.
I have more thoughts on apologies to share, but they'll have to wait for now.
I'm glad people are coming around Nicole, but are they going to punctuate their feelings with a lynching* or two? Oh lord, did I say lynching? I, of course, meant the public castigation of the spineless bastages in question.
[*wow, talking about a slip of the pen]