Mistakes vs Intent

I came across a TikTok post last night and it got me thinking. 

The post was about mistakes & intent - that if we repeat a mistake or something we did wrong, it becomes intentional. The example used was about how a person came to a meeting late, and he apologised for it and his apology was accepted. However, when he came to the meeting late the second time round, his apology was no longer accepted and he was chided for deliberately being late. The rationale - that his repeated mistake now reflects a deliberate intent to be late. Hmmm, I could understand where this was coming from - if his has learned his lesson, he would have made efforts to provide enough buffers for the many "what ifs" to avoid being late. But I think calling it intentional for being late the second time may be a tat too harsh in this example, and too simplistic. He could have made provisions to be early but perhaps never expect his car to breakdown, or get into an accident, or missed the bus, or get caught in the lift, etc. You get the drift, there can be just that many reasons why he appeared late again. And my take is this - repeated mistakes reflects an intentionality only if it happens again, and again, and without valid reasons. I do not think there is a clear distinct point as to when it becomes intentional but I do suspect somewhere in the equation are the elements of "communications" and "trust". 

Agree?

Just another of my weekend musing. Been a while...