📙 Part 2: Describe a situation when someone apologized to you

This episode's vocabulary

Mess something up (phrasal verb) – to make a mistake or handle something badly. → He apologized for messing up the order.

Rock up (phrasal verb) – to arrive somewhere, often casually or without a prior arrangement. → I was a bit surprised when I rocked up at quarter past six and there was no one to be seen.

Prompt (adjective) – acting without delay. → Usually people there are pretty prompt with letting people in.

A solid [amount of time] (idiom) – an entire, uninterrupted period of time. → I was waiting for a solid 25 minutes.

Call it a day (idiom) – to decide to stop doing something for the rest of the day. → I waited for 25 minutes before I called it a day and headed home.

Not a huge deal (idiom) – not a serious problem; not very important. → It wasn't a huge deal because I can find other things to do.

As it turned out (phrase) – used to describe what happened in the end, often with an element of surprise. → As it turned out, the yoga teacher had completely forgotten about the class.

Oversight (noun) – a mistake made because of a failure to notice something. → He sent an email expressing his apologies about the oversight.

Slip one's mind (idiom) – to be forgotten. → The fact this could slip his mind was extremely surprising.

Highly strung (adjective) – very nervous and easily upset. → I suppose if I were more highly strung, I'd have made a big deal out of it.

Make a big deal out of something (idiom) – to treat something as more important than it really is. → I didn't make a big deal out of it because I'm not that kind of person.

Lose one's cool (idiom) – to become angry or upset. → It's pretty ironic for a yoga student to lose their cool over a missed class.

Questions and Answers

Maria: Describe a situation when someone apologized to you. You should say what happened, who apologized to you, how you reacted and explain how you felt after the incident.

Rory: Well, this certainly doesn't happen very often because usually everything in my life goes to plan, but recently someone said sorry to me for messing something up. Mercifully, it wasn't serious. I was due to have a yoga class at about half six in the morning a few weeks back. And I go at the same time about three times a week. So I'm used to getting up early and throwing on some clothes to head there about fifteen minutes before the class is due to start.

So I was a bit surprised when I rocked up at quarter past six and there was no one to be seen. Usually people there are pretty prompt with letting people in, but this time all the lights were off and there was no one to be found. And I was waiting for a solid twenty five minutes before I called it a day and headed home. Like I said, it wasn't a huge deal, just because I'm quite experienced and can find other things to do at that time. But I wasn't a big fan of waiting out in the cold for ages.

As it turned out, the yoga teacher who was supposed to let me in had completely forgotten about the class and sent an email expressing his apologies about the oversight. Like I said, they are usually pretty reliable and very good at their job. So the fact this could slip his mind was extremely surprising. When it was all done and dusted, I just dropped in to the next class and said hello and thanked him for the apology. It wasn't a big deal and we've been fine since then. I suppose if I were more highly strung, I'd have made a big deal out of it, but I'm not that kind of person.