Empathy, it's a good thing.

I got an interesting text from Jack today.  It reminded me of how much like Jason and I he really is.  Jack has a great deal of empathy for people, especially his teachers.  He can be a real tootball, but he is always able to tell if his teachers are having a bad day.  On those days, he always (at least I'd like to think it is always) cuts down on his behavior or his goofiness. If a teacher doesn't feel well (and let's all face it, every teacher knows that most of the time it's more work to get ready for a sub than it is to just show up not feeling well), Jack is a little bit extra helpful.  He's always been this way.  It's my understanding that Jason was a lot like this.  He could always "sense" when someone wasn't having a good day or felt badly.  I was like this also, but hardly ever acted on it.  Today, Jack's empathy came in real handy.

The text I received from Jack informed me that one of his teachers had a heart attack during class.  He told me that she had been teaching just like she always does, and he was trying to keep up with the note-taking so he didn't really pay very close attention to what else was going on.  But then, he said that she told the class she was going to sit down because she was dizzy and thought she might faint.  He knew something was a little off, but everyone just sat quietly for a bit to let her rest.  He said that soon, however, she started sweating and couldn't talk.  It was at that point that he knew something was wrong, so he left class and ran down to get the nurse.  It's my understanding that it took a little bit for others to figure out that something was seriously wrong, but they stayed with her while Jack got the nurse.

He's pretty shaken up.  He really likes this teacher, and so do I.  She has worked really hard to keep the kids interested and motivated in the science curriculum, and takes time to get to know them.  I haven't heard anything about how she's doing, I know that Jack is concerned for her, but I have to just keep reassuring him that he did the right thing and that it helped to save her life, and hopefully keep the damage of the attack to a minimum.  He hasn't truly ever understood what "empathy" was until today.  Today was a good example of how his empathy is a good thing, even if you're a cool teenager.