Compassion

Wake-up call.

A lesson on empathy:

Last night I got a pretty crazy wake-up call that I am [ignorantly] hoping is not indicative of human nature in general. The situation basically left me completely shocked at people's complete and total lack of empathy. After being faced with what I imagine to be a common problem, easily fixed but also easily made serious, I found myself having to rely on about twenty different people Ð'- all complete strangers.

Yes, these were strangers, but hardly the common I-found-you-on-the-street variety Ð'- these were twenty [supposedly] well-educated, medically trained "professionals." Their entire job rests on exhibiting, at the very least, just enough kindness and sympathy to help total strangers out of whatever health issues they have gotten mixed up in. A few of them may have been hundreds or even thousands of miles away, sitting in a comfortable cubicle in a well-lit office. I had not met and probably will never meet them Ð'- so, in theory, one would argue that perhaps they do not owe me anything. Whether or not this is true, whether or not you agree, tell me: what have we come to when people are so bereft of compassion, so utterly indifferent, that they fail to exercise any slight trace of sympathy for a child with a basic human problem Ð'- a problem that any of them could very well have been in themselves? The time constraints involved, the difficult age restrictions, and the necessary confidentialities are enough to send anyone Ð'- child OR adult Ð'- into [temporary] hysteria. It should come as BLATANTLY OBVIOUS COMMON SENSE that, when handling such delicate issues with someone who is only a child, ridicule, harsh judgments, and unnecessary and biting criticism should be completely out of the question. The fact that grown adults, who I am generously assuming have been through a decent education and who have encountered FAR more life experiences than I have, can show such an utter lack of compassion, especially for someone so young, so vulnerable, and so in need of the help that only they can provide, is what honestly scared the hell out of me.

Right now I'm really just musing about the whole thing. It completely confuses and disgusts me that EDUCATED adults decide to pursue a highly-respected and desperately-needed profession and then ridicule and refuse to assist those who have no choice but to rely