Tonight in The Mission I saw a person holding a hand lettered cardboard sign that read, DO YOU HAVE EMPATHY? The question covered the majority of the sign. At the bottom, barely readable, Anything helps.

As I walked by I read the sign, then looked at the person and said hello. He shouted back, Thanks for having no empathy.

I paused at the corner and wondered, what does empathy require?

Seeing another?

An exchange?

A gift?

A remedy?

An answer?

Is empathy merely imagining what it would be like to find oneself holding the sign?

Or the ability to receive his anger and understand the place from which it came?

What, exactly, does empathy require?