No Empathy

Where there's a Yes, there's a No.

This story is the sister of another story about a woman named Yes*.

This story is about the woman who was a No. She was a no empathy kind of person. It was a painful thing to tolerate after having the Yes experience... which will be for a later post.

After having helped go the extra literal mile for a passenger on a multiple fare line for a woman named Yes, I found myself having to apologize. It's sad and frustrating to have to apologize for helping someone else but, at the same time, I didn't want this other passenger to feel like her time was any less valuable than the first and made a point to tell her as much.

"Hey. I'm really sorry about the little detour right now. Her pin was placed somewhere incorrectly and she'd told me that she was experiencing a difficult time so I really wanted to try and help her."

"It's alright. I'm not in any sort of rush. I'm just going home."

"I really do value both of your time so I really appreciate your patience. I just felt bad for her and really wanted to make her day a bit easier. I'd given her lots of resources to housing and things of that nature. I really really feel bad for her."

"I don't do any of that. Helping other people is not worth anything to me. No one appreciates it anyway so I don't do it."

At that point I really wanted to stop the ride. I remained composed and just smiled. This was a passenger who had seemed annoyed getting into the car. Perhaps there was something going on with her. Perhaps there wasn't. Either way, that was her right to operate as she wished.

I ended up getting a text from someone and it made me smile as the update popped up on my screen above my GPS.

"What's that?"

"Oh it's nothing. It's just a response to something I sent earlier. I sent something to someone earlier and was hoping it made them smile. It did. So it's double bonus for me, ya know?"

"Was it a guy?"

I just kept quiet. The answer really was irrelevant anyway. However, given how her voice changed at this, I just replied with a teaser statement and a shrug.

"Maybe?"

No then disclosed that she'd had a difficult week. She was very ready to relax already. There were other things on her mind that were compounding it though.

"I've been seeing someone and he's been gone for a month. Its good and I'm fine with it but.."

"But?"

"But I have been having a bad week. It would have been nice to have someone to hang out with and be there."

Suddenly her demeanor made a bit more sense. I felt bad and wished that things got better for her.

"Well you're home now. I hope you have a better night."

She thanked me and exited the car.

It made my heart ache listening to this person so jaded and hurt by the world that her desire to assist others seemed tainted.  I thought about Stars and about how he had finally reached his empty point with it. I think it happens to people over time. I... empathize even if she couldn't or chose not to.

And with that, I hope your day is going well even if there are Nos in your day. I bid you to please hopefully remember that for as many Nos there are out there, that there will also be Yeses. But those are for different blogs.

For more tales in ride share shenanigans and other chats about love and life and more, I hope you return here. Until then, have a great day worthy of musings.