And that's fine, dude. You're not required to give him pity, and nobody is telling you that you should, especially not me.

However, what I am saying is that it's not cool to attempt to degrade or downsize someone's own personal anguish simply because, on a global scale, it doesn't compare to some of the shit that other people have to deal with. When I was growing up, I was dealing with shit that has scarred me in ways that still affect me today. However, compared to a child in Somalia, my suffering is but a drop in the bucket. Does that mean that I should have been okay with my father's crack addiction? Does that mean I should have just shrugged off constant physical and verbal abuse from my mother?

All I'm saying is that he has a right to be hurt. Any other criticisms you have are none of my concern.