Wednesday, June 01, 2011

I'm sure I saw this ending in a movie once.

"ALAMEDA -- A 57-year-old man drowned Monday afternoon after walking fully clothed into the surf at an Alameda beach and wading in the chilly bay water for nearly an hour, authorities said.

Witnesses said the Alameda man, whose name was not released pending notification of relatives, paced back and forth for several minutes, then walked out into the waves around 11:30 a.m. at a stretch of beach along Shoreline Drive near the Willow Street intersection, raising his arms in the air in chest-deep water for nearly an hour and eventually floating out to about 150 yards from the coast."
Source.

Except emergency personnel didn't watch while the guy died. The movie simply ended. What the eff with that?

I am sort of conflicted here. I think if you want to tap out of life - it is your choice. Just don't take anyone with you. Still, I think it is the moral responsibility, that if other people see you trying to tap out, that they try to save you. You just don't leave people dying by the side of the road. It's part of what makes us a civilised society.

As a side note on how everything is fine, just fine. A few days ago I was marveling at how the news was chirping about how violent crime still continues to decline. Especially murder. Without looking into any of the data, I'm betting they are shoving a lot of the "murder" I see into "murder suicide". Or just suicide.

It used to be fairly uncommon to read about suicide. Now, I swear I read about it several times a week. On a consistent basis. Hell, this year my sleepy suburb has had two really dramatic suicides. A few months ago a guy took a cab to an overpass and jumped off. Then, two days ago a guy tried to blow his head off on a freeway on-ramp. Some guy found him and took him in his own car to the emergency. I don't know what happened to him.

Then there is that girl who just jumped off the GG bridge. She was from the city I was in this weekend at that car show.

2 comments:

  1. That's wild, we just had the exact same thing happen in my hometown. Considering how close Alameda is to Oakland, one has to wonder it this death is also related to the church behind the rapture predictions

    http://www.mercurynews.com/top-stories/ci_18140764?nclick_check=1

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  2. Wow. Pretty intense story. I think if people really want to leave, you can't stop them. At least his suffering is over.

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