Empathy

I am beginning to think that all of life boils down to empathy.

Think about it. If you can emotionally connect with what someone else is feeling, you have made human to human contact. There is nothing more important than that. Nothing that means more than that.

No bullshit, no playacting, no ego, no lies - just one human zeroing in on what another human being is feeling, and understanding that on the most basic level of what it means to be a human. To be alive.

I just made a booze run to procure what it is gonna take to get me through the next three days.

The manager of the store used to work "under me" when I was Assistant Manager of the Peterborough liquor store. She was spectacular. Sheri. She was always prepared, always knowledgable, always positive, always willing to help out customers.

We forged a deep bond. She called me her surrogate father. That was a large compliment to me.

Her father was an asshole. He treated her like crap. I am 20 years older than Sheri. She asked for advice, I always gave it with the caveat that I didn't know shit. She felt differently.

I retired, she got my job and eventually moved on to manage a store. I expected this. I have enormous respect for Sheri.

I popped in to buy enough booze to kill the pain of the next three days return to work, after a 110 day vacation. Sheri's store is literally 5 minutes down the road from me.

Every time I walk into her store, every time, she stops what she is doing, walks up to me and announces to anybody within earshot that I am one of her most favorite people on planet earth. Then she hugs me.

It feels very good.

She asked me today how Thanksgiving went - I explained how Keith and Craig both felt that a traditional Thanksgiving was risky and we would have to improvise. The woman at the counter said "They were thinking about you".

I loved that. I don't even know the woman but she was defending my sons - she was showing empathy.

I talked to her, I talked to Sheri - all of our Thanksgivings were compromised. Sheri is a very devoted family Mom. She has kids, she has a grandkid. She is super close to them. 

But we agreed that it was for the best. For 2020. We also all agreed that 2021 will be a massive celebration as soon as we can pull it off.

I was in a liquor store talking to a close friend and a woman I didn't know and we were all on the same page. All feeling the same things, all expressing the same thoughts.

That is life right there.

2020 sucks big time. It is a fucking nightmare. So painful. 

But for 10 minutes I had a conversation with two people who were going through exactly what I am going through, feeling the same deep disappointment that I am feeling, the same pain of separation from their families, but somehow sharing that pain made it more bearable.

That is what it means to be human. That is empathy.

I am coming around to the opinion that if you are empathetic, then you are contributing something to society. You are making someone's life better just by understanding their feelings. That is huge.

If you are not empathetic then you are probably a selfish prick.

If that is the case you should just kill yourself. I fucking encourage suicide. If you can't be empathetic you do not deserve to identify as a member of the human race.