People aren't machines and only one of them is you so while it may be a bit draining sometimes it might help you keep a level head and do your own job better if you at least tried a bit of empathy once in a while.

I am empathetic in all cases except those in which the person is hostile.

I'm not paid to read these forums and I have to suffer the most bonkers emotional outbursts, often illustrative of severe behaviour disorders.

I'm not paid to read these forums either, but there's not much else to do when you're waiting for something to compile and/or execute.

If you have an injury to your foot, you will limp regardless of whether you are being paid to walk or not.

Same goes for the temper.

Physical and mental disabilities are entirely different, so this analogy doesn't make sense. Having a limp doesn't (usually) impact your coworkers' ability to function, but being crazy and having outbursts might.

Two guys tried to kill me at work once but after some thought I came to the conclusion that they only attempted to poison my air supply because they were politically disenfranchised (and didn't like me that much and were Nazi nutters).

Hmmm...