Alex was actually bothered by both things, though he voiced the second part less often. Normally people didn't ask such in-depth questions, and if they didn't, he didn't usually volunteer that.

"I c-can feel wh-whatever e-emotion I eat. It c-can give me a s-sense of what was b-bothering the p-person, as if it had b-been bothering me, s-sorta like h-how you c-can taste if s-something's been hickory-smoked, or c-cooked over charc-coals... b-but, w-well, r-really different."