It seems analogous to not asking a dog to do a trick you know it can’t perform.

This sounds like advice from the GOP playbook. "Can't be shamed if you have none".

A sincere apology implies that one truly feels bad about their behavior in some way. If someone truly feels bad about something that has public visibility, they should apologize for that for their own benefit, regardless if the other party accepts it.

I don't think that makes you a coward, it just means that you value other things over being 'right'. Some people are obsessed with always 'winning', and don't pay attention to how their fighting can hurt people and relationships.

I obviously don't know you or the specifics of your disagreements, but I think you should be forgiving of yourself.

> Or I just apologize. Of course, I'm a coward.

You can apologize AND simultaneously it can be true that such other person is also a jerk who purposefully gets offended by stupid things and takes everyone out of context for their own benefit who leads a march to cancel you.

Maybe your jokes aren't that good.

There's nothing cowardly about apologizing when you hurt someone's feelings.

If your jokes are frequently poorly received by her then I would consider telling them to other people. Some jokes can be told to anyone but many have a limited audience.

Wow, there's something incredibly heartbreaking about summing things up that way.