Immediate knee-jerk apologies are usually worthless because the person apologizing usually has no idea what's going on and can't make a reasoned statement. The

Immediate knee-jerk apologies are usually worthless because the person apologizing usually has no idea what's going on and can't make a reasoned statement. They're just trying to do damage control. The best apologies are the ones that are done after some reflection, not under duress, and not purely for reputation.