Is compassion real?

In the passage “On Compassion”, Barbara Lazear Ascher recalls a couple of brief encounters with homeless people in New York City. And after she shares her story about the homeless people with the audience, then she informs her view on compassion. She explains how people help others just to feel better about themselves. She asks the audience, where is the real compassion? Author states that people with empathy can show real compassion, because empathy comes when people really understand and can share the feelings of another person. Ascher continues with her contention by giving examples on how people can misinterpret sympathy by empathy. According to Ascher in some situations people tend to help others just to satisfy