Empathy, the grease of our society's cogs.

Empathy is moving a sharp shard of glass to the side of the pavement, so it wont hurt an unsuspecting passer-by, it's standing up and offering your seat to an elderly person in a crowded bus and it's the friendly smile when the waiter brings you the wrong order.
Empathy is less about big acts of heroism and more about the small, almost invisible gestures that indicate that we know or try to imagine how a person feels about, an awkward or a difficult situation.

It's impossible for us to experience another individual's exact emotions and the specific feelings of others remain inscrutable to us. 

We try to appropriate alien situations, and make them our own. We read social cues, decipher them and we use this imput to imagine how people feel.

Empathy is not about looking for excuses for other people's behavior or reactions, it’s more about indulgence and understanding.
Humans are a combinations of strengths and weaknesses. 

How would we behave if exposed to a certain circumstance?

The truth is, unless we go through an experience, we could only presume or conjecture our reaction to it.
Our presumption might not be accurate, but it gives us pointers and it helps us act from a place of kindness which is always the best way to proceed.