Pity party

The man who broke into my house was released last week, and the police called me to let me know. He's still going to be prosecuted, but he isn't being kept in custody in the meantime. At the beginning of the phone call, I was worried, and a bit cross, about him being released into the world. By the end of the call, when I'd heard his history and how apologetic he'd been about the whole thing, I couldn't help feeling sorry for the guy. He really has had an awful time of it and, while that doesn't detract from the fact that he did a horrible thing to me, it does make me feel a little safer. Because he's not an habitual criminal, and he's not a bad person. He's just a bloke who made some piss-poor decisions, and then followed them up with one massive mistake. Apparently he asked if he could apologise to me, and was told it would be inappropriate for him to meet me, but I asked the policeman to pass on my acceptance of his apology. One person to whom I told this story kindly informed me that I was a doormat, but I don't think it's productive to bear grudges. I also like to think that if I went off the rails and screwed up in a truly monumental way, that somebody would be prepared to accept my apology for it.