OP-ED: "All Apologies: Working backward in a rude world," by Henry Alford, New York Times 10 November 2008

Wonderful op-ed about a guy sick and tired about the lack of politeness in this world--to wit, the inability of so many people to say "I'm sorry" when it's entirely appropriate to do so.

So he goes around making those apologies for people, confounding them in the process.

As he explains to one woman who smacks him with her stroller:

"No one says I'm sorry anymore, so I do it for them."

"O.K."

"My idea is that if I say I'm sorry, then at least the words have been released into the universe."

She stared at me with equal parts irritation and faint horror, as if I had just asked her to attend a three-hour lecture on the history of the leotard.

I continued: "The apology gets said, even if it's not by the right person. It makes me feel better. And maybe you'll know what to say next time."

"Wow," she said.

And then, finally, came the words I have longed these many months to hear: "I'll think about that."

My wife is like this guy, without the snark . She simply believes in politeness.

I, having been raised in a family where such words were rarely used, am usually reduced to the "wow."

What kills me is that Vonne's willingness to remain polite, even under the rudest conditions, is often seen as a sign of weakness, when actually, there is a glorious, Christ-like strength to be witnessed in such moments.