As a teenager, my father took me to Metropolitan State Mental Hospital several times, not for admission, but to learn how mental health affected his clients. He was a Los Angeles County social worker for decades, and knowing my interest in medicine, he felt it was an opportunity to put my feet in someone else’s shoes.

While he saw clients, I interacted with patients in their social living area. (Confidentiality and HIPAA laws did not exist.) For hours, I’d watch football, play cards and shoot the breeze, recognizing there was only a hairline difference between us.

Fast-forward to Santa Clarita, where my neighborhood is filled with first responders, many in law enforcement. They are honest, fair, and good parents of different backgrounds, races and genders. All condemn the Minneapolis officers.

They know they are being held smart-phone-camera accountable, and they have no problem with it. But as I put myself in their shoes, law enforcement is difficult because of the firearms available to criminals. Every day, they worry about not coming home to their families.

We must realize there is only a hairline difference between all of us. From this, putting our feet into someone’s shoes will become easier.

Gene Uzawa Dorio, M.D., is a geriatric house-call physician who serves as president of the Los Angeles County Commission for Older Adults and Assemblyman to the California Senior Legislature. He has practiced in the Santa Clarita Valley for 32 years.