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I was studying at Memorial library quiet study room. A sexagenarian lady came in and sat down at one of the computers in the room. Only few minutes later, she had questions with regards to why her computer won't start. The library was so quiet that I could clearly hear her conversation with the librarian.

Few minutes later, this unpleasant mixture of gongs, human humming, and hissing coming directly from her computer. It got louder and louder. I knew she was listening to some sorts of Buddhist meditation music. I knew she didn't plug in her headphone. This cacophony soon brought everyone's attention. There were people who previously had their headphones on took it off just to listen to what happened, and there were people who soon plugged in their earphones so that they don't get distracted. And there were people like me looking at her waiting for the librarians to act. I felt so bad for her. For me, this was probably the most embarrassing and the worst nightmare ever. Inside me, I really hoped she doesn't get kick out.

She, on the other hand, thought her headphone was "on" and was enjoying this meditation with her eyes fully closed. This quiet study room has soon filled not only with her meditation music, but also with laughter. Fortunately, this man on the very further end of the library walked up next to her. He put his hand on her shoulders and the other hand turned off the speakers.

"Your headphone is not plugged in." He said, gently and quietly.

"Oh, I am sorry". She apologized very innocently.

I have my utmost respect and admiration for this person. For that was probably the most compassionate thing anyone could do. This instance reminded me of an article that was written by the CEO of LinkedIn Jeff Weiner about the difference between empathy and compassion. As he stated:

"Empathy is feeling another person's feeling---fundamental building blocks to compassion. Compassion is maintaining enough distance where you can actually do something the way the other person feels."

I knew I often felt empathetic toward other people's suffering. But the most compassionate thing, and often time is also the most difficult thing, is to put yourself into someone else's shoes and find a way to help them, just like this young man have demonstrated to everyone in the room.