The question
Who deserves an apology from you, and for what?Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
A fixed Guardian Q&A prompt asked directly across respondents and years.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
My younger self. I told myself so often that I was not good enough, that I was not smart enough, that I was not interesting enough, that I was boring and ugly. I wasn’t kind to my body, and I did and said things to myself that I would never do or say to a friend.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 6 August 2022 source ↗
I am mortified that we went into Afghanistan, promised to liberate the female population and, 20 years later, dumped them in a situation as bad, robbing girls of their futures.
The man who asked me directions on the subway seven years ago: I am so sorry for sending you to Queens rather than to the Bronx.
The Spice Girls – Mel B, Geri and Emma – who wanted to mark our 20th anniversary, and the fans. It was not something I felt comfortable doing.
The person who had to empty the bin on that train to Oxford.
This sounds so silly, but I cry with happiness all the time. I cry when my flowers open!
I can’t say no. I am a people-pleaser, and it means that I burn myself out because I take on too much.
J-Lo, a foreign correspondent and, at uni, I assumed that someone would tap me on the shoulder and ask me to be in MI6, but it never happened.
As someone who had a laugh.
When I was growing up, I thought quicksand was going to be a much bigger fear to contend with on a day‑to-day basis. It hasn’t proved to be a bother yet, but there’s still time.
I don’t like it when people manipulate your words, which sometimes happens in the tabloids.
John Simpson, Richard Eyre, Sandi Toksvig, Ed Harris, Jake Shears, Gina McKee
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