Hmmmm…I suppose I never considered it that way. I realize that sounds naive, but you don’t realize you’re “different” in some way until someone repeatedly points it out.

I guess this is sort of like determining whether drug addicts are worthy of empathy…even though they had a CHOICE, they may not have been able to resist the vice and now they are stuck with that dependency that’s very hard to get out of.

I think in a lot of ways the same applies to a lot of life situations. I do lack empathy for some things that I guess most people wouldn’t. (for example: although I feel like drugs/alcohol are a REAL sickness, I also feel like “why don’t they just quit?” which sounds idiotic of me, but in all honesty I’ve never had a problem quitting vices (if I genuinely wanted to, lol) so I assume all humans are built to “resist” and are just being lazy if they don’t.

I suppose in some ways I don’t realize that some people are just not that way and I have to be bombarded with that reminder to feel empathy for people sometimes…. you’re right, though…my perceptions are not necessarily the norm, so if I base my understanding (of human nature)on that, I’ll be a very frustrated woman!