I agree with the first paragraph. Like I said in the last post, he really did come in late. All of it could have been avoided had he intervened earlier.

But the apologetic behavior is necessitated by the already aggravated situation. If he acted as you described when the two punks were already standing, a fight would have ensued (which is probably what he wanted to avoid the most). At that point, such an apology was necessary to avoid further conflict.

These two acts should be seen as separate. While he is at fault for the first one, the second one is simply a matter of choice. To fight, or to swallow your pride and avoid it. He doesn't really care about the punks or their future actions (that is simply the type of character he is), and neither does he care about playing hero (as seen from his attitude with the old lady). It is not a matter of his desire to be punished for his type of work, but rather the apathetic attitude that he has gained because of it (this is what I was trying to say about his past). He has probably had a lot happen to him that forced him to ignore personal pride for something else, something more valuable to him.

I am not saying I agree with his attitude, just that with his objective, that apology is probably the best way to achieve it at that time.