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Comment by wolverine876 | Hacker News Reader

Hey - none of us have endless energy or patience. We just do our best.

I don't mean to be dismissive about your experience; we all have a hard road, and some much harder than others. Still, if we're talking about it honestly: Why should the admnistrator and other people have compassion for you if you don't have it for others? I'll bet that, not being saint and under all that stress, you weren't perfect in what you were doing. I'll bet the administrator and others were also under many different stressors like you were; who was understanding them?

The only way there is compassion in the world is when it's between stressed people acting less than their best, often much less. If it's restricted to near-perfection, it wouldn't exist; the word 'compassion' wouldn't have any usage or meaning.

But that doesn't mean I do it well all the time. And I'm a jerk too and I hope people have compassion for me.

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> I'll bet that, not being saint and under all that stress, you weren't perfect in what you were doing.

Foul. I applaud your boldness (the world needs it) but if you're going to play Bad Cop then you have to bring something more to the table than the rationalizations of a gambler. Otherwise this is coercion.

My favorite example: "I'd bet you wouldn't suck my dick, you homophobe." Your answer determines whether you go to bed tonight as a loser, a villain, or a cocksucker.

When you get these sorts of accusations wrong, you're being cruel to an otherwise-innocent person and causing them to doubt themselves. This causes harm. Skepticism and compassion can coexist-- it's called certainty. Call your shots or don't take them.

> The only way there is compassion in the world is when it's between stressed people acting less than their best, often much less. If it's restricted to near-perfection, it wouldn't exist; the word 'compassion' wouldn't have any usage or meaning.

Yep. Forgiving minor trespasses, turning the other cheek and all that hippie Jesus shit makes for a pretty chill life. Even he lost his temper.

> if you're going to play Bad Cop then you have to bring something more to the table than the rationalizations of a gambler.

I think that's an important point to raise. However, I had thought I dealt with that well. I wrote,

Why should the admnistrator and other people have compassion for you if you don't have it for others? I'll bet that, not being saint and under all that stress, you weren't perfect in what you were doing. I'll bet the administrator and others were also under many different stressors like you were; who was understanding them?

The GGP already said they weren't a saint - I used their language - and my assertion wasn't that they did something awful, but that they simply were imperfect - a pretty certain guess for anyone.

Still, I generally agree - one needs evidence, not a fabrication.

> Forgiving minor trespasses, turning the other cheek and all that hippie Jesus shit makes for a pretty chill life. Even he lost his temper.

Are you being sarcastic? Also, I don't think we need to forgive only tresspasses that are minor, and I don't see it as a 'chill life', but as important and even essential behavior by all of us (IMHO - I'm not forcing anyone to do it).

> Otherwise this is coercion.

A minor point, but where do you see 'coercion'? What am I coercing them to do and how?

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