Depends rather on the nature of the offence.
Here is a range of 5 possibilities ranging from:-
Someone else pretends that a casual remark was heinous. Petty and trivial, even.
Carelessness and stupidity.
A touch of nastiness.
Outright malice.
Intended to cause pain, hurt and damage.
Many shades in between each of the above, of course.
For me, I would agree with you, AWG, if it was a question of the first three above.
Below those I’d not be so keen to be nice.
