Is saying "Me too" a natural response?

[optimistic pessimist]

Dear all,

The other day I met a friend (an American from the west coast) who had just lost his mother.

When he said to me, "My mother passed away", "I said "Oh, I'm sorry".

Then, he said, "Me too".

Is this a natural response to "I'm sorry"?

(I could have asked him directly, but it wasn't the right time to ask a question about English.)

Thank you!

OP

 

[Barb_D]

He is feeling sorry about the situation too.

Yes, it's pretty normal.

I'm sorry about our fight.
Me too. (I'm sorry too.)

I love you.
Me too. (I love you too, not I love "me" too.)

I love The Big Bang Theory.
Me too (I love it too.)

Generally, when one hears condolences, the proper response is "thank you" but someone who has just lost a loved one can be given a pass. (Given a pass= allowed to make what might be considered an error without judgment.)

 

[JohnParis]

Barb is correct, and I really like her response, but I'd like to add that I still remember the first time I heard the response "me too" used in a somewhat bitter sense.
I was a kid and at a friend's house and his mom was baking a cake. It smelled so good that my buddy and I went into the kitchen to look at it through the glass oven door, which he opened (perhaps to get more of the delicious odor). His hand slipped and the door slammed shut. The cake fell (it looked like an empty plastic swimming pool). His mother came into the kitchen, took one look and then glared at my friend who said "I'm really sorry, mom." Her response was "me too, young man." It really surprised me because I thought it was a mean thing to say to someone making an apology for a simple, human mistake.
Me too is a natural response (not always grammatically correct) to lots of things. For example: "Who wants ice-cream? I do, I do, yeah me too!" But when it comes after something like "I'm sorry, I messed up" or "I'm sorry about your diagnosis", - "me too" seems a bit nasty.

John