Sorry, eh?

You have permission to apologize.

OK, this gif cracks me up. Click if you can’t see it moving for some reason.

There are laws in some Canadian provinces that govern apologies.

At first, this sounds like one of those “crazy statutes still on the books” things—like the idea that it’s illegal in Arizona to let a donkey sleep in a bathtub, or that you can get a ticket and have to pay a fine if you wear a sleeveless shirt in a public park in Maryland.

But the Canadian laws are a bit different. They say that if you tell someone you’re sorry for something, that fact of your apology can’t be used against you as a legal admission that you’ve done something wrong.

Google the Apology Acts, as they’re known, and you’ll find some self-deprecating Canadian humor (sorry, humour), about our northern neighbors’ (sorry, neighbours’) propensity to apologize at almost any opportunity.

Yet, I’ve got to be honest: it sounds like a pretty good idea.

The 1 thing that holds us back

Americans don’t reflexively say “sorry” as often as Canadians do. But, there are at least three reasons I’d like to see something similar here.

First, for the legal reason that they have it in Canada. Under the common law that both countries share, an “admission against interest” counts as an exception to the hearsay rule in court.

So, if I hit your car and then apologize to you for the accident, you can theoretically sue me and use the fact that I said I was sorry as proof that I was in the wrong.

That’s why you probably shouldn’t apologize immediately after a traffic accident. Yet, isn’t that exactly the sort of time when we’d like people to demonstrate greater empathy and compassion?

Second, I like it as a legal encouragement for more politeness in general. It costs nothing, and can defuse difficult situations.

At the risk of seeming crankier and older than I am, I’m a giant proponent of the lost art of saying “you’re welcome,” as opposed to more recent replacements like, “no problem” (or, “yep!”).

Finally, and perhaps most important, it’s because an underappreciated thing that holds so many people back is a perception they have that they don’t have permission to become great.

And this law is all about giving people permission.

Ask forgiveness, not permission

It’s ironic to the nth degree, because we like to think of Americans as pioneering, straight-shooting, and brave.

Often we are. Heck, it was Grace Hopper — the great computer scientist and Navy admiral — who came up with the life maxim, “It’s easier to ask forgiveness than permission.”

But in recent decades, I think we’ve reached the point where we have just enough stuff, and enough success, that we’re afraid of losing it.

It can be paralyzing.

I saw that almost every single morning for a few years, after I wrote an article about quitting a job after one day. People would reach out to me over LinkedIn or email constantly, basically asking me for permission to quit their jobs, too.

Stepping in

I didn’t know those people’s stories, of course. So, I tried to refrain from giving advice.

Usually, I suspected they knew their own right answer, anyway.

Similarly, I don’t know if there might be something holding you back — ambitions, for example, that you might feel embarrassed or hesitant to pursue.

If there is, then now seems like a heck of a good time to take control.

If nobody else is doing it for you, maybe let me stand in as a proxy, giving you the permission you need to move forward and take risks. Or, if you’re doing fine but a friend or colleague needs a proxy, maybe take it on yourself to stand in for them.

Permission granted.

Oh, and just to follow my own advice: You’re welcome.

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Other things:

• When your article says basically: “This isn’t World War III, but ...” Ten days into President Trump’s Iran campaign, the war has gone global. At least 20 countries are now militarily involved — shooting, shielding or quietly supplying — while a widening energy shock punishes nations far from the front lines. It may be the closest we’ve come [to world war] in decades — drawing in more countries, more great powers and more overlapping conflicts than any crisis since the Cold War. (Axios)

• A former employee with the so-called Department of Government Efficiency allegedly claimed he tapped into two sensitive Social Security Administration databases and intended to share the information with his private employer, according to a whistleblower complaint. After leaving the agency, he allegedly told colleagues he retained “God-level” security access to the Social Security’s systems and that he expected to receive a presidential pardon if his actions were considered illegal. (The Independent)

• Internal Supreme Court divisions over how the high court has frequently ruled in favor of the Trump administration in emergency situations spilled out into public Monday with liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson and conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh locking horns. The procedure has become known as the “shadow docket” because the court rarely hears arguments and often issues terse decisions with little explanation. “[T]his uptick in the court’s willingness to get involved ... is a real unfortunate problem,” Jackson said. (NBC News)

• Seven members of Iran’s women’s soccer team have been granted asylum in Australia, with one more asking to join them minutes before the rest of the team departed for Iran. This came after Iranian state media labeled the women “wartime traitors” for not singing the country’s national anthem before a Women’s Asian Cup game. Australia said border force officials made multiple representations to all team members before they departed Sydney, including in private meetings with chances to phone their families back home. “They were given a choice,” Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said. “I respect their independence and agency with whatever decision they chose.” (ABC Australia)

• Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey on Tuesday commuted the death sentence of a 75-year-old inmate who was set to be executed this week even though he was not in the building when the victim was killed during a 1991 robbery.I vey reduced Charles “Sonny” Burton’s sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole, marking just the second time the Republican governor has granted clemency to a death row inmate out of 27 cases. (Yahoo News)

• The yogurt delivery women combatting loneliness in Japan: As loneliness deepens in one of the world’s fastest-ageing nations, a network of women delivering probiotic milk drinks has become a vital source of routine, connection and care. (BBC)

• Two teenagers mistakenly left a knapsack containing marijuana and cash at a donation area outside a New Zealand charity shop then returned in a panic to retrieve the bag, police said Monday. A volunteer at the store noticed a pungent aroma before opening the knapsack and finding plastic bags of marijuana amounting to 43.2 grams (1.5 ounces) and 3,700 New Zealand dollars ($2,200) in banknotes, police said. (AP)

Thanks for reading. Today was a Low Power Mode edition, and if you knew that, I love you. See you in the comments.