Empathy Intervention – Joseph Donohue

Coming from a smaller tourist-city, my buddies and I always had to go out of town to do anything fun. Something we did more often was go to the movies. I have always loved going to the movie theatre, because there is just something about watching an epic story on the big screen ten times more exciting. I remember one time my friends and I went to see the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie, which I was extremely pumped to see. I had been waiting all week to go see it. So we all bought tickets, went to the theatre and then quieted down as the movie began to start. Soon as the movie started, however, some lady’s kid started crying too. It wasn’t a soft cry either, so I was having a hard time trying to focus on the movie. At the time, I was hoping that that woman would leave as the baby went off every 10 minutes. I couldn’t understand why she couldn’t have just left the kid at home, or just watched the movie at home. Looking back, I could have felt more empathy towards her because I wasn’t aware of her situation. Maybe she did not have money for a baby sitter or have someone to leave the kid with. She could have been even more excited than me to see the movie, but the only way she would be able to if she brought him with her. It is very easy to look from my perspective because I’m myself, however I can’t do this as it may invalidate what others could be going through.

About The Author