> Americans, on the other hand, tend to take them as admissions of weakness, and try to pile more abuse on you. You are punished for apologizing, and they never

> Americans, on the other hand, tend to take them as admissions of weakness, and try to pile more abuse on you. You are punished for apologizing, and they never let you forget it. For this reason, sincere apologies can probably only work in very private situations, with those rare people who are overly generous and forgiving and won't take it as an invitation (if not a moral imperative) for endless retribution, bullying, and public shaming.