I don’t consider myself an empath. I do have a lot of empathy and sympathy for people, and when it comes to certain people or situations, I really will think hard about what their lives or their situations must be like. However, there are also times, especially online, when someone will talk about someone else behaving like a total asshole, for example, yelling at restaurant workers or other bad behavior, and people will respond “don’t judge” or “you don’t know what they’re going through” or “you don’t know what kind of a day they’re having.” Well, I have had some really bad things happen to me and I’ve had some shitty days just like everyone else in the world, and I don’t think it justifies bad behavior. I’ll also say to people “yes, I do judge.” Certain things, I am judgey about. I judged people for a living and I’m will judge now. For example, yesterday I was in NYC and some weird looking guy with stains all over his clothes came up close to us and asked me if I knew what time it was. I said no and moved away. Did I judge him? Yes. I judged him by his appearance, his demeanor and his behavior. Is it possible he was not a bad person? Yes.