On one hand, I don't NOT want to be empathetic, but this feels like a ridiculous comparison, and I suppose it's my hope that the author understands that at some

On one hand, I don't NOT want to be empathetic, but this feels like a ridiculous comparison, and I suppose it's my hope that the author understands that at some point, and writes a part two with bit of "Okay, I was being a bit dramatic, though it was how I felt." He has/had freedom to change this in a way that your subjects in the story likely did not.