Things are people too!
It only occurred to me the other day to google Autism and anthropomorphism. Thinking back, I suddenly grew suspicious of my very strong tendency to attribute emotional intelligence to things: to imagine it being possible to hurt a car's feelings for example, or my tendency to apologise to doors if I bang them. This was undoubtedly learned behaviour because my mother dealt with my countless phobias by teaching me not to hurt things' feelings: Don't scream! The Hoover will be sad it's made you frightened and many similar phrases seeped into my psyche and took root. I did the same with my children and now they are doing it with theirs. Watching other parents, I don't think that is so abnormal. What feels possibly less like other people is the fact that in my sixties I still feel guilty for 'separating a stone from its friends' with a careless kick, work out which ducks are friends and which are lonely when I'm by the river, and feel sorry for lights ...