Today I was called a bad writer. Actually, someone told me they were confused why I had a column at all because I wasn’t very good. I smiled at first, and he retorted that I really shouldn’t do that — ...

“Stop apologizing,” comes the reply. “You’re cheapening the art of apology.” I have just sent a cursory, ‘Sorry I didn’t text you back’ message to a friend after once again leaving them on read. We’d ...