Apologizing

One of my close friends has a nephew.  He is pretty adorable.  It's funny the way he waddles around bumping into everything and tripping and falling over.  But he immediately gets back up without crying.  Whenever I try to get him to walk towards me, he smiles shyly, and turns and walks the other way, eventually coming back.  Like I said, he's adorable.

Yesterday, I'm hanging out with my friend, and he tells me that we need to talk in private.  Apparently the father of the cute little boy is upset at me because I told his son something along the lines of 'Walk into the table and hit your head,' just several days ago.  My reaction, obviously, was:  "Wtf you serious?  Maybe you heard wrong."  I don't remember several days ago.  But I definitely wouldn't want to purposely harm the little kid.  I'm thinking to myself that the father heard wrong.  It's possible I said 'don't' or 'be careful in case' or something similar before that statement.  I was thinking I could approach the father and resolve this matter in a logical, non confrontational way.

So I go back downstairs to talk to him.  I start off by telling him what I heard, and apologizing for any confusion that this is causing him.  Then I told him that it's possible that he misheard what I said because I think his son is adorable and there's no way I would will him any harm.  Unfortunately the father doesn't seem like the logical can be reasoned with type.  He tells me that he heard me clearly, he didn't mishear me, and that if I liked his son, why would I say such a thing?  Again, I tell him that I wouldn't say such a thing because I liked his son, and that there's a possibility that he misheard me.  His eyes go red and he tears up, obviously holding himself back (either from crying or from punching me) and tells me that he didn't hear wrong.  I told his son to hit himself on the head.  And that I shouldn't say such things.  I know by now that there's no reasoning with him, and the only way to end this peacefully is if I give in and apologize.  So I told him that I came down here to apologize.  That I really do like his son, and there's no way I would ever say anything like that to him, and that I want him to accept my apology.  He tells me that I should never say anything like that again.  This time I'm holding myself back, and again I apologize.  He nods his head turns away.  His wife is obviously more understanding and isn't about to burst into tears.  I think she accepts my point of view and she tells me that it's fine and I can go.

So there's my story on turning the other cheek.  I really dislike it.  It's shameful and humiliating.  I didn't do anything wrong, why am I not given a chance to clear my name?  I held everything back and apologized because I knew that's what I had to do.  But it upsets me.  Because it's his son, I'm immediately in the wrong.  Most people would take his side because he's the loving father.  I didn't do anything wrong and suddenly I'm the liar and the hater.

So why did I apologize?  I don't really know myself.  This is the first time I've ever apologized for being unjustly accused.  Before, I would stand up for myself even if no one else would.  If the blame did not rest on me then I wasn't willing to take it.  But maybe I apologized not because I felt guilty, but because I felt compelled to do so.  I guess this is another change I've gone through after getting to know Jesus again.