snip
Well, that how some people are. If something specifically doesn't happen to you, or someone you know, but it happens to other people, then you feel sorry for them and probably forget about the event for a week or two. Though you can really sympathize with them because it didn't happen to you or your family. On the other hand if you experienced something like that, then you could be more sympathetic to the situation, and probably help them through it.
It's like 9/11, if it wasn't the first time something like that happened then people wouldn't make as much of a big deal about it, but it was a huge event and people still talk about to this day and probably in future history books.