I never take part in the blame game

Two drivers stand behind a scraped bumper in a supermarket car park, and for eleven minutes neither of them looks at the bumper. All the attention goes on establishing who reversed first.

Blame is a way of trying to settle a cost before anybody has to pay it. It feels urgent because it genuinely is about money, or standing, or being the sort of person things are safe with. That is why people are so good at it and so tired afterwards.

Stepping out isn't nobility. Usually it is just the recognition that the bumper is still scraped and somebody is going to have to ring a garage.