This highlights the importance of apologizing for the impact something has, vs. just apologizing for the act itself. There is no universal rule that can be app

This highlights the importance of apologizing for the impact something has, vs. just apologizing for the act itself. There is no universal rule that can be applied to determine when one vs. the other is appropriate, but seemingly innocuous actions can have negative impact, and apologizing for the innocuous thing may not always make sense. To be clear, this is not universally true. There are situations where apologizing for the action makes sense, and situations where the action that led to a negative outcome are either inconsequential on their own, or there might be a myriad of factors leading to the need for an apology. Apologizing for the action can also come across as disingenuous or passive aggressive in the wrong context. This is especially true when the action is well-intentioned, but has the wrong effect. Taken to an extreme, this sounds like "I'm sorry I tried helping".