Comment by bitshiftfaced

It may be that both are thinking in terms of considering the other person. People use their self as a reference point. When you try to model in your head how someone will take your request, you may be thinking in terms of how another asker would take being asked a request. In that case, you would think that the other person would be fine with it, since they're just as comfortable with asking for things that have a low chance of being granted.