One day, two 8-year-old friends were walking down to the pond to go fishing.

“Hey, Conner, stop walking for a second.”

Connor stopped and looked over at Billy.

“Why?” Conner asked.

“Take off your shoes.” Billy removed his own.

“Why?” Connor asked.

Billy slipped on Conner’s shoes. “My dad says you don’t really know someone till you walk in his shoes.” He started to walk farther down the road. Connor stared at him with confusion.

“So do you know me now?” Conner asked.

“Don’t know nuthin’ more about you, but I know your shoes are too tight on me. My mom says if your feet hurt, everything else is gonna hurt, too.”

“My feet don’t hurt,” said Conner. “Let me see if I walk in your shoes, I know somethin’ about you.” He stepped into Billy’s shoes. “Whoa. I can barely keep them on. I could fall if I’m not careful. Here’s what I know. You can get somewhere faster than me cuz your toes stick out more than mine do.”

The boys continued their walk to the pond in each other’s shoes. When they were nearly there, Billy stopped and poked Conner in his side.

“You know, my mom’s right. My legs hurt and my back ain’t good just cuz I’m walkin’ in your shoes. Guess my dad was wrong. The only thing I know now about you is you got really small feet!” Billy poked Conner again and laughed.

Conner looked down at Billy’s shoes. “Well, you got feet like a duck!” They both laughed. “You know,” Conner said, “One time I walked around my house in my dad’s slippers.”

“And what did you know about your dad?” Billy asked.

“Nuthin’ I suppose. I walked right out of the one slipper and I kicked the other one off. Made ME feel better to get out of them, that’s all I know.”

They got to the edge of the pond and put worms on their fishing poles. A moment later, Conner reeled in a catfish.

“Woo hoo! Way to go! Look at that ol’ whisker face!” Billy punched his friend in the arm.

In the next 20 minutes, Conner caught three more fish while Billy didn’t get a single bite. Conner noticed the sad look on his friend’s face just as his bobber was pulled under the water for the fourth time.

“Here! Take my pole, quick!” Conner handed it over. Billy set the hook. The pole bent in half and a big tail swirled through the surface of the water. A huge largemouth bass jumped into the air shaking its head trying to dislodge the hook. After a few minutes, the fish tired before Billy pulled it up and over the bank.

“Wow! I think I caught Big Bubba,” Billy said. “You want to take him home for your mom to cook it for your dinner?”

“If you want,” said Conner. They stared at the big bass as it struggled to breathe through its gills. Billy knelt down next to the fish.

“He ain’t doing so good since you yanked him from the water,” Conner said. “He’s gonna die before we get halfway home.” Billy looked up at his friend. They nodded to each other in a silent agreement. Billy removed the hook and gently placed the bass back in the water. He stood up and Conner shook his hand.

“Bubba’s lived a long life,” said Billy. “I bet he’s feeling pretty good right about now.”

Since there were no more worms left, the boys slung their poles over their shoulders and began walking back. As soon as they reached the road, Billy stopped.

“I guess I should give you your shoes back and you give me mine so we can be who we are again.”

Conner’s eyes opened wide. “Hey, I know, why don’t we walk home barefoot? This way we’ll both be the same.”

After a good loud laugh, the boys removed their shoes and walked down the road feeling happy after a great day of fishing together.

A recent study at the University of Michigan revealed a dramatic decline in empathy levels among young Americans between 1980 and today, with the steepest drop being in the past 10 years. The shift, say researchers, is in part due to more people living alone and spending less time engaged in social and community activities that nurture empathic sensitivity. Furthermore, social media and cellphone texting are unreliable in making interpersonal connections. The bottom line is there is much less eye-to-eye interaction, which consequently prohibits the ability to tune in to someone else’s feelings.

When we can step into someone else’s shoes, so to speak, we attain empathy. We can better understand what they are feeling and we can be supportive when they are sad and we can be joyful when they are happy.

Empathy allows us to have compassion for others. Without compassion, our lives are self-absorbed and we may be incapable of building and sustaining healthy relationships.

What Conner didn’t realize was that while he was wearing Billy’s shoes, he felt empathy for his friend who wasn’t catching any fish, and while they watched the bass trying to stay alive on the land, they both felt its struggle and let it go back into the water.

They showed a wonderful ability to have empathy, and all it took were two pairs of shoes and a bass named Bubba.

Rich Strack can be reached at katehep11@gmail.com.