October 3, 2005

  • Today has been a good day so far.  I think it is because of a variety of reasons.  My family is doing much better.  I found a church where the people are friendly and truly acting like Christians (with some exceptions).  And last night, I told off someone, who has NO sense of empathy whatsoever.


    Empathy is the ability to look at things from OTHER people's point of view rather than just your own.  This girl thinks other people had the same experiences as her and that they think exactly like her.  Then she lectures others on how THEY think and feel.  She just cannot understand that people had different experiences than herself and that they probably think differently.


    For example, she once said that at the age of 30, she now visits her parents often and looks out for them.  She was saying "you" (I think in the general sense of the word) rebel against your parents in your youth but that you take care of them in their older age.  I had to repeatedly correct her and point out that just because she had a f*cked up, distant relationship with her parents did not mean people like myself did.  Just because HER parents got older and she had a change in attitude about them does not mean people like me were not always caring for OUR parents from a very young age.  Anyway, I corrected her repeatedly, but I think the stupid girl still didn't understand that just because she was a f*cked up young daughter in her youth didn't mean we were ALL f*cked up children to our parents.  Most of us Koreans (and other Asians) were ALWAYS tight with our parents.  That doesn't mean we were perfect kids (far from it), but we didn't have the distant type of relationship that this girl had with her parents as a youth.


    Second of all, even IF she were talking with someone with similar experiences and similar mindset as herself, why does she have to lecture the person to tell the person what he is feeling?  That person already KNOWS what he is thinking or feeling and doesn't need a lecture to learn what he feels or thinks.  Learn to EMPATHIZE, girl!!!!  It ain't about you.


    Okay, I feel even better. :)