In The News: Tiger Wood’s Grand Apology – What Is ‘Sorry’?
By Susanne on Feb 24, 2010 in relationships
I watched last week’s Tiger Wood’s apologetic press conference through my fingers, and I don’t doubt the rest of the world probably did the same. It’s never easy to see a grown man cry – and this was a public display of emotion over a very personal issue only made public because of the man’s status.
Sponsors needed placating and sports fans wanted him back on the green without all the tabloid attention, so some might say this overwrought episode had to happen, to put an end to the craziness.
Ultimately, it was just a shame that an apology over infidelity had to be such a public event, beamed live over the internet and hundreds of news channels, when the main victim of his various indiscretions was lost somewhere in the mix. It was Elin Nordegren, Tiger’s wife, who we felt for – yet this huge, momentous public apology seemed to be directed at the world at large, making her position seem less relevant than her fans.
We have no idea of what Woods has said to his wife in private, of course, and for a long time it seemed divorce was on the cards. Now we learn that the two have been seen apparently trying to work things out, so we can only wish them well. Elin herself hit the nail on the head when she told Tiger how he could truly prove he was sorry – which he relayed in his press conference.
Thinking about their situation, it makes me realised how fragile relationships are – from long marriages to those who’ve only recently started dating. I’m sure we’ve all been in a position where we’ve had to apologise for something awful that we’ve done. It doesn’t matter if you forgot your fiftieth anniversary or if, on the opposite end of the spectrum, you turned up an hour late to dinner on a second date. You still need to say the right things and feel them too, in order to make it clear that you’re sorry.
Because being sorry isn’t simply a case of saying that one word, over and over. It’s a question of sincerity. Making an overblown gesture, whether it’s a live TV press conference or a massive show of love in a public place for we non-celebrities, isn’t necessarily going to prove anything.
Sincerity is proved not only in tone and body language – that could simply be down to great acting skills. Proving that you’re sincere in your apology takes a lot more guts, and can only be proven over a long period of time – and in that time it takes work. You can only be judged by your actions – and healing wounds as deep as Tiger’s will take months and years. If he manages to stay faithful in all that time, only then will his spoken ‘sorry’ truly be accepted.
