Posts
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Depression In Young Ones
Sometimes we older ones become so wrapped up in our own depressions, we discount the feelings of the wee ones, the babes in the woods.
The children, teenagers, young adults following in our footsteps towards a most uncertain future.
They haven't been through the jungles, tar pits, the quicksand, slugged through the overgown, intertwined, complex tundra we have.
They have not walked in our mocassins,
Yet we feel that by virtue of having been young once, we have walked in theirs.
And it is our duty as their family member or friends to guide them away from the tigers and towards the safety nets.
And it has been my experience, across the board... the young would prefer to find their own way. Some, however.... get lost and needed help.
I suspect, statistically speaking, the youth of my generation were far less depressed than the kids of today.
There were no computers when I was a kid.We played outside or in our heads.
There was an innocence to our lives the internet and tv no longer affords us.
There was never an expectation for us, as teenagers, to knowingly or unknowingly exploit or expose ourselves on a world-wide live interactive stage of predators.
When I was kid, there was no cyberspace...
only outer space, the lunar landing and original moon walk...
and no cyber world that didn't existed at all.
There was no internet for millions of us growing up.
I rememeber getting our first tv when they came out, it was black & white.
I watched the Wizard of Oz, the Beatles on Ed Sullivan.... and JFK's assinanation, playecd over and over on it, sitting idian style in ront of the TV.
I even watched Oswald take a bullet live from Jack Ruby for the assasination of our President.
Then saw Bobby Kennedy anbd Martin Luther Kennnedy gunned down.
I recall being depressed as a kid. I had my reasons.
But suicide weas never a thought or consideration to me...
as it is to today's young.
I like this video above because it expands upon a very important blog issue this week. Depression.
It opens our eyes to an issue many people don't think about.
Some one else.
And in this case, that would be the wee ones.
The children, teenagers, young adults following in our footsteps towards a most uncertain future.
They haven't been through the jungles, tar pits, the quicksand, slugged through the overgown, intertwined, complex tundra we have.
They have not walked in our mocassins,
Yet we feel that by virtue of having been young once, we have walked in theirs.
And it is our duty as their family member or friends to guide them away from the tigers and towards the safety nets.
And it has been my experience, across the board... the young would prefer to find their own way. Some, however.... get lost and needed help.
I suspect, statistically speaking, the youth of my generation were far less depressed than the kids of today.
There were no computers when I was a kid.We played outside or in our heads.
There was an innocence to our lives the internet and tv no longer affords us.
There was never an expectation for us, as teenagers, to knowingly or unknowingly exploit or expose ourselves on a world-wide live interactive stage of predators.
When I was kid, there was no cyberspace...
only outer space, the lunar landing and original moon walk...
and no cyber world that didn't existed at all.
There was no internet for millions of us growing up.
I rememeber getting our first tv when they came out, it was black & white.
I watched the Wizard of Oz, the Beatles on Ed Sullivan.... and JFK's assinanation, playecd over and over on it, sitting idian style in ront of the TV.
I even watched Oswald take a bullet live from Jack Ruby for the assasination of our President.
Then saw Bobby Kennedy anbd Martin Luther Kennnedy gunned down.
I recall being depressed as a kid. I had my reasons.
But suicide weas never a thought or consideration to me...
as it is to today's young.
I like this video above because it expands upon a very important blog issue this week. Depression.
It opens our eyes to an issue many people don't think about.
Some one else.
And in this case, that would be the wee ones.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Depression Is Depressing
A good investigator knows everyone wears masks.
Who we are in public is not who we are behind closed doors.
So the movie and rock stars the public is fascinated with, they are just people like us wearing masks when they face the world.
And behind each mask is a face, a head, a brain that works its own mojo.
Ultimately, the brain rules.
Hopefully the brain is healthy.
The mask is a facade the brain selects to make the ego feel safe when dealing with external environments and others.
I admit, this is a heavy subject that doesn't, at first glance, appear to have anything to do with investigation.
However, when you are a P.I., and you are allowed entry into the sacred sanctuary of a clients thoughts,
you realize how much depression must play into the drama and trauma we deal with daily.
Often, depression is the "why" behind suicide.
So I added a quote from Jim Carrey on my Facebook wall this morning.
Then I figured that quote, as powerful as it is...
is also a mask.
It is masking the fact that one of my favorite celebrities, someone I believe is a comedic genius, is also living in his own private hell.
And I don't think he will mind my sharing that here, because he has spoken openly about depression.
Every client I deal with has some level of depression or otherwise they wouldn't need a lawyer or PI.
It is depressing to have to fight for your rights when someone is doing you wrong.
It is depressing to try to find someone who is missing.
It is depressing to believe someone you know who was murdered... has "suicide" listed on the death certificate.
It's depressing when people think you are crazy or you feel like no one is listens, cares, understands, knows you exist.
Depression is one of the emotions most often associated with the victims.... and the accused... in the legal process.
Some of funniest people in the world on the outside....
are the saddest in the inside.
Here's the link to Jim Carrey's story.
If you get just one thing from it, know....
you are not alone.
You just have to fight your way out of it.
http://www.survivingdepression.net/copying/jimcarrey.html
Who we are in public is not who we are behind closed doors.
So the movie and rock stars the public is fascinated with, they are just people like us wearing masks when they face the world.
And behind each mask is a face, a head, a brain that works its own mojo.
Ultimately, the brain rules.
Hopefully the brain is healthy.
The mask is a facade the brain selects to make the ego feel safe when dealing with external environments and others.
I admit, this is a heavy subject that doesn't, at first glance, appear to have anything to do with investigation.
However, when you are a P.I., and you are allowed entry into the sacred sanctuary of a clients thoughts,
you realize how much depression must play into the drama and trauma we deal with daily.
Often, depression is the "why" behind suicide.
So I added a quote from Jim Carrey on my Facebook wall this morning.
Then I figured that quote, as powerful as it is...
is also a mask.
It is masking the fact that one of my favorite celebrities, someone I believe is a comedic genius, is also living in his own private hell.
And I don't think he will mind my sharing that here, because he has spoken openly about depression.
Every client I deal with has some level of depression or otherwise they wouldn't need a lawyer or PI.
It is depressing to have to fight for your rights when someone is doing you wrong.
It is depressing to try to find someone who is missing.
It is depressing to believe someone you know who was murdered... has "suicide" listed on the death certificate.
It's depressing when people think you are crazy or you feel like no one is listens, cares, understands, knows you exist.
Depression is one of the emotions most often associated with the victims.... and the accused... in the legal process.
Some of funniest people in the world on the outside....
are the saddest in the inside.
Here's the link to Jim Carrey's story.
If you get just one thing from it, know....
you are not alone.
You just have to fight your way out of it.
http://www.survivingdepression.net/copying/jimcarrey.html
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Aftermath Somali Pirate Murder
In 2010, Somali pirates took 1181 hostages.
How insane is that?
This link takes you to the story behind that count.
http://maritime-security-seamarshal.blogspot.com/2011/01/pirates-take-record-number-of-hostages.html
That number doesn't include the number of hostages being held around the world.
Hostage-taking is big business in third world countries, as is white slave trading and other kidnap/ransom crimes where people are commodities.
I use to dream of sailing around the world.
Now the concept seems more like a nightmare.
I use to travel to third world countries quite frequently for business or pleasure.
Now I avoid them.
Call me Dorothy, I'm just sayin'...there's no place like home.
I need to leave the blog for while and I want to leave something important behind.
That be would be this story... the drama turned trauma the world been focusing on all week.
I think this New York Times article takes this crime to the investigation level now.
The amazing part... is we are living the story as it unfolds.
Soon, we will be calling it a "case."
Just go the following the link.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/24/world/africa/24pirates.html?_r=2&hp
How insane is that?
This link takes you to the story behind that count.
http://maritime-security-seamarshal.blogspot.com/2011/01/pirates-take-record-number-of-hostages.html
That number doesn't include the number of hostages being held around the world.
Hostage-taking is big business in third world countries, as is white slave trading and other kidnap/ransom crimes where people are commodities.
I use to dream of sailing around the world.
Now the concept seems more like a nightmare.
I use to travel to third world countries quite frequently for business or pleasure.
Now I avoid them.
Call me Dorothy, I'm just sayin'...there's no place like home.
I need to leave the blog for while and I want to leave something important behind.
That be would be this story... the drama turned trauma the world been focusing on all week.
I think this New York Times article takes this crime to the investigation level now.
The amazing part... is we are living the story as it unfolds.
Soon, we will be calling it a "case."
Just go the following the link.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/24/world/africa/24pirates.html?_r=2&hp
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
The Tragic End of This Pirate Story
This was not necessary. It was pointless. Useless.
A complete waste of humanity,
It's like a suicide bomber walking onto a city bus or into or a crowd of people.
It's like an angry kid loaded down with dad's weapons walking into a school building.
It's like a self-proclaimed patriot blowing away an Oklahoma building which housed, among so many businesses and lives, a thriving and full daycare.
This recent murder of Americans on the high seas by Somali pirates is an act of evil I believe the defense will mask as some form of political or religious statement.
However, I don't buy it for it for a heartbeat.
There is NO political statement here.
Just madness.
And no one will really come close to knowing what ensued unless all the surviving pirates are isolated, interogated and provide the same story.... the latter of which is most unlikely.
Were the four coldly executed?
Or did some fight for their lives and get killed for doing so?
Two Seattlelites were aboard that boat.
I knew one casually.
She had mentioned her fear of pirates to a friend.
However, she had also been around the world once by sea and it so compelled her....
she sold most everything she had to relive a dream she had no way of knowing would be her final nightmare.
The killers denied me the opportunity to get to know her better.
And they denied her friends, her family, all four families.... a sense of peace.... for the rest of their lives. They will revisit the terrifying and haunting death of their loved ones from this point forward.
Those last moments when someone dies is something that is the hardest for a loved one to grasp.
To me, from the safety of secure seas...
plumbing the depths of these particular deaths is unfathomable.
I looked for the most recent, informative link to the story before I return to the day job.
Here it is. And off I go.
click here: http://www.kirotv.com/news/26950041/detail.html
A complete waste of humanity,
It's like a suicide bomber walking onto a city bus or into or a crowd of people.
It's like an angry kid loaded down with dad's weapons walking into a school building.
It's like a self-proclaimed patriot blowing away an Oklahoma building which housed, among so many businesses and lives, a thriving and full daycare.
This recent murder of Americans on the high seas by Somali pirates is an act of evil I believe the defense will mask as some form of political or religious statement.
However, I don't buy it for it for a heartbeat.
There is NO political statement here.
Just madness.
And no one will really come close to knowing what ensued unless all the surviving pirates are isolated, interogated and provide the same story.... the latter of which is most unlikely.
Were the four coldly executed?
Or did some fight for their lives and get killed for doing so?
Two Seattlelites were aboard that boat.
I knew one casually.
She had mentioned her fear of pirates to a friend.
However, she had also been around the world once by sea and it so compelled her....
she sold most everything she had to relive a dream she had no way of knowing would be her final nightmare.
The killers denied me the opportunity to get to know her better.
And they denied her friends, her family, all four families.... a sense of peace.... for the rest of their lives. They will revisit the terrifying and haunting death of their loved ones from this point forward.
Those last moments when someone dies is something that is the hardest for a loved one to grasp.
To me, from the safety of secure seas...
plumbing the depths of these particular deaths is unfathomable.
I looked for the most recent, informative link to the story before I return to the day job.
Here it is. And off I go.
click here: http://www.kirotv.com/news/26950041/detail.html
Monday, February 21, 2011
Pirates vs. Seattlelites - Update
This is the latest update.
I'm glad the sea I will be crossing today by car ferry is patrolled by the US Coast Guard.
There are also two naval bases, a trident sub bases and other military installations on my tip of this content. So I not only feel safe at sea.... I often feel observed.
You can't even drop a finishing line in the water for more than a couple hours without a drive by visit from a Coast Guard vessels checking licenses, fish hooks, looking around for alcohol or non-compliance.
There's a sense of safety we have in this country we either whine about, take for granted....
or at moments like these, appreciate.
Back to the story at hand. Here's the link to the latest update:
http://www.mynorthwest.com/?nid=11&sid=428431
I'm glad the sea I will be crossing today by car ferry is patrolled by the US Coast Guard.
There are also two naval bases, a trident sub bases and other military installations on my tip of this content. So I not only feel safe at sea.... I often feel observed.
You can't even drop a finishing line in the water for more than a couple hours without a drive by visit from a Coast Guard vessels checking licenses, fish hooks, looking around for alcohol or non-compliance.
There's a sense of safety we have in this country we either whine about, take for granted....
or at moments like these, appreciate.
Back to the story at hand. Here's the link to the latest update:
http://www.mynorthwest.com/?nid=11&sid=428431
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Pirates Plunder: Seattle Couple Among Four Held Hostage
A recently put a post up here about Charlie Sheen... partially, as a test.
I wanted to see if readership increased when a Hollywood celebrity took a nose dive.
I got my answer.
No one cares any more about fallen Hollywood stars.
Gollywood, Lost Angeles, Dope, Rehab.... It's all Old News.
And I suppose that's what makes blogging such a unique, fluid form of creative expression.
You can instantly erase mistakes or move past them and carry on.
So at this point I'm not sure what I'll do with the Charlie Sheen story.
I do know, however, what I'll do with a story I've been following closely.
Share it here.
When I first heard about this case, I was on the road and decided it was too important not to blog about.
Because it's not movies.
It's real life.
And the link to the story follows at the end of the post.
This story not about celebrities snorting white powder...
It's about pirates taking over the free seas, holding people captive, because they claim, they can no longer earn a living as fishermen.
So this, they claim, is the next best thing.
Really?
There's no better way to earn a living than kidnapping innocent people who are trying to escape people like them?
But wait... it gets worse.
Now the people being held captive are being publicly criticized for sailing through "Pirate Alley" in the first place.
They should stay out of the bad ocean hoods, cry the naysayers.
I say, the ocean is a big place.
There are no billboards.... road, street or warning signs on the ocean.
And if you're a small pleasure vessel, you won't out-run the heavily armed commandos whose mission is to overtake you.
So no sea is safe, really.
And that's why we have battleships, the Navy.
In this case, the Military is on it....the Seals.... and the copters hover overhead.
Negotiations are underway.
The pirates are staffing up.
Last I heard there were four of them to to every one hostage.
I have no clue how this one will end.
I do know it will not end well.
Here's a link to the story from the Seattle Times.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2014288307_pirates21.html
I wanted to see if readership increased when a Hollywood celebrity took a nose dive.
I got my answer.
No one cares any more about fallen Hollywood stars.
Gollywood, Lost Angeles, Dope, Rehab.... It's all Old News.
And I suppose that's what makes blogging such a unique, fluid form of creative expression.
You can instantly erase mistakes or move past them and carry on.
So at this point I'm not sure what I'll do with the Charlie Sheen story.
I do know, however, what I'll do with a story I've been following closely.
Share it here.
When I first heard about this case, I was on the road and decided it was too important not to blog about.
Because it's not movies.
It's real life.
And the link to the story follows at the end of the post.
This story not about celebrities snorting white powder...
It's about pirates taking over the free seas, holding people captive, because they claim, they can no longer earn a living as fishermen.
So this, they claim, is the next best thing.
Really?
There's no better way to earn a living than kidnapping innocent people who are trying to escape people like them?
But wait... it gets worse.
Now the people being held captive are being publicly criticized for sailing through "Pirate Alley" in the first place.
They should stay out of the bad ocean hoods, cry the naysayers.
I say, the ocean is a big place.
There are no billboards.... road, street or warning signs on the ocean.
And if you're a small pleasure vessel, you won't out-run the heavily armed commandos whose mission is to overtake you.
So no sea is safe, really.
And that's why we have battleships, the Navy.
In this case, the Military is on it....the Seals.... and the copters hover overhead.
Negotiations are underway.
The pirates are staffing up.
Last I heard there were four of them to to every one hostage.
I have no clue how this one will end.
I do know it will not end well.
Here's a link to the story from the Seattle Times.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2014288307_pirates21.html
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Charlie Sheen: Professional Suicide?
I think Mel Gibson committed a form of media suicide.
Same with the Michael Richards guy who plays Kramer on Seinfeld.
If you say something really racist, offensive, insulting or act like an a-hole, the American public tends not-be to happy happy about that.
They'll turn their back on you and your career is history.
I think it unlikely Gibson will ever make a comeback.
We still haven't seen Kramer anywhere.
Yet Charlie Sheen is everywhere,
Despite... or in spite of... the crack Charlie Sheen made about crack in this recent radio interview with Dan Patrick.
There are two parts to the interview. This is my favorite, Part One.
It's amazing how someone can be a complete train wreck, be so off the tracks...
and continue to keep on chugging.
Or shorting.
Or shooting up.
We've lost too much talent too soon, to the lures, traps, addiction to drugs and alcohol.
Judy Garland, WC Fields, Janis Joplin, Montgomery Clift, Janis Joplin, John Belushi, River Phoenix, Heath Ledger, Elvis Presley Michael Jackson...the list goes on and on.
Check out this site. 42 Hollywood Drug deaths.
http://www.celebritydrugdeaths.com/hollywood-drug-overdose-deaths.php
Whether these were suicides or overdoses is pointless in my mind.
Drugs are drugs.
Dead is dead.
Finis.
Re: Charlie Sheen, in my opinion the jury is still out. And so is he.
He's chosen to do his rehab at home.
He's chosen to to this radio interview and discuss social crack smoking.
And I don't know about you, but he sounds high as a kite to me.
Everything Charlie Sheen is smoking, snorting or shooting...
and the number of prostitutes he has allegedly been involved with...
won't lengthen that life span of his.
It appears he's already lost more than a few brain cells in this interview.
Same with the Michael Richards guy who plays Kramer on Seinfeld.
If you say something really racist, offensive, insulting or act like an a-hole, the American public tends not-be to happy happy about that.
They'll turn their back on you and your career is history.
I think it unlikely Gibson will ever make a comeback.
We still haven't seen Kramer anywhere.
Yet Charlie Sheen is everywhere,
Despite... or in spite of... the crack Charlie Sheen made about crack in this recent radio interview with Dan Patrick.
There are two parts to the interview. This is my favorite, Part One.
It's amazing how someone can be a complete train wreck, be so off the tracks...
and continue to keep on chugging.
Or shorting.
Or shooting up.
We've lost too much talent too soon, to the lures, traps, addiction to drugs and alcohol.
Judy Garland, WC Fields, Janis Joplin, Montgomery Clift, Janis Joplin, John Belushi, River Phoenix, Heath Ledger, Elvis Presley Michael Jackson...the list goes on and on.
Check out this site. 42 Hollywood Drug deaths.
http://www.celebritydrugdeaths.com/hollywood-drug-overdose-deaths.php
Whether these were suicides or overdoses is pointless in my mind.
Drugs are drugs.
Dead is dead.
Finis.
Re: Charlie Sheen, in my opinion the jury is still out. And so is he.
He's chosen to do his rehab at home.
He's chosen to to this radio interview and discuss social crack smoking.
And I don't know about you, but he sounds high as a kite to me.
Everything Charlie Sheen is smoking, snorting or shooting...
and the number of prostitutes he has allegedly been involved with...
won't lengthen that life span of his.
It appears he's already lost more than a few brain cells in this interview.
Friday, February 18, 2011
For Carly Henley
The following song is dedicated to beautiful Carly Henley, a University of Washington student, who took her own life and took a piece of this community's heart with her.
She didn't chose the bridge. So at first her death appeared suspicious. It was indeed a suicide.
And I think until after the fact, no one had a clue of her inner anguish and turmoil.
In fact, I don't know if any one could have stopped her unless she verbalized her intent.
Yet a whole lot people feel her pain and loss now.... and will never be same because of the unknowing. And Carly's undoing.
If you want to know more about Carly, go here. http://www.b-townblog.com/2010/10/07/highline-high-gradmusician-carly-henley-found-dead-at-uw-frat-house/
She didn't chose the bridge. So at first her death appeared suspicious. It was indeed a suicide.
And I think until after the fact, no one had a clue of her inner anguish and turmoil.
In fact, I don't know if any one could have stopped her unless she verbalized her intent.
Yet a whole lot people feel her pain and loss now.... and will never be same because of the unknowing. And Carly's undoing.
If you want to know more about Carly, go here. http://www.b-townblog.com/2010/10/07/highline-high-gradmusician-carly-henley-found-dead-at-uw-frat-house/
Aurora Bridge Suicides: Link to Ron, Don and Rachell Belle's story.
I listen to the radio a lot when I am on the road.
All day and often into the night.
Years ago, I listened mostly to music, and still listen to it a lot.
It's helpful when I've got images in my head.... brain matter and blood spatter for instance...
photos of dead children... accident scenes..,..
or pictures of a squished sports car I just took on behalf of a deceased client who alive in that car before it went under that semi.
The music triggers some button in my brain and I find escape in the songs.
Depending on mood and cases, I travel between places to hard rock, soft rock and mellow.
I still can't handle "easy listening"
Mostly, however, I listen to talk radio -- specifically to the hosts and shows I've become familiar with over the many number of years I have lived in the Seattle area.
I love B.J. Shea in the morning.
And Ron and Don for the commute home.
Late at night I will confess. I listen to and like Tom Lycos (most women don't) and found great amusement and occasional insight in Dr Laura.
National Public Radio is my favorite radio place to be on the road on Saturday.
So a couple of weeks ago, I was driving into Seattle across the famous Aurora Bridge where many suicides happen.
MANY.
The statistics quoted are varied and astounding.
There are a whole lot of bodies falling by windows and landing near pedestrians, car or boats.
Sometimes jumpers hit the water, many times they hit the concrete... or the tops of cars...
which is mortifying to witnesses....
and routine, yet equally mortifying, to first responders and clean up crews.
As far as launching pads, the Aurora bridge used to be the one of choice for those who feel they have nothing left to live for.
Or no desire to feel the pain any more.
Yes, suicide is a choice.
It is probably the most painful choice a person can make, to end his or her life.
Imagine that.
Feeling so low, so alone, so afraid, so scared, so different, so desperate, so poor, so anxious, so bone tired, so humiliated, hopeless, whatever...
imagine feeling so bad about yourself, your existence.... you take the leap over the rails of the bridge.
I usually travel the Aurora Bridge to and from the ferry because it allows me to travel back in time while staying in the present. It also keeps me off the concrete sea, the freeway, I-5.
It is a bridge of so many stories I could tell you now.
One story is about a bus full of people sent flying high off that bridge by a lunatic criminal.
However, my time is limited and so is the attention span.
So back to the case in point.
Over the course of months... I have been going over the Aurora bridge watching the suicide barriers go up.
I was very skeptical as to how and whether they would work.
I listened to many talk radio debates about how these "activists" wanted the barriers put up, the city or some groups in the city were defiant and a waste of money.
People pro-barriers said, not only did the bridge make it too easy for someone to act on what is truly an impulse decision that often passes...
so many people were jumping, their bodies and flight and on impact were traumatizing the workers below who saw it happening all the time.
Imagine that.
So many people jumping. So many people seeing.
Not a good thing.
So I don't know when exactly, a couple weeks ago, I was driving over the bridge, the traffic was slowing, I slowed in a traffic jam took pictures of the new suicide gate/barrier going up. I knew I wanted to put a photo on Facebook and blog about it sometime.
Now is that time.
I'd blogged before about a similar bridge in China, though the Aurora Bridge was much more personal.
Because I have know more than casually two people who jumped off that bridge. For both, I think, the pain of living was so strong, they couldn't handle it any longer. No one even suspected the thought was in their minds. They hid it well.
So yesterday I was driving south on Aurora listening to the the Ron on Don Show.
Rachel Belle has joined them with what I think of as sidebar stories, which are always fascinating.
For road warriors like me, Ron and Don are the torch lights home.
They are the beacon that penetrates the darkness and endless sounds of drone cars on concrete trying to get us to and from our places at varying paces.
Ron and Don are popular because they don't care as much about ratings as about what matters.
And because they are like this, they have a huge following.
So yesterday, I delivered cases to a law firm, hopped in mu car and happily approached the Aurora Bridge northbound.
As I slowed enough to tick people behind me off.... I looked at the completed barriers, and viewed a roadside cross and picture placed on the rails of the bridge by the loves ones of a young woman who must have jumped before the barriers were complete.
Then, I flipped on the Ron and Don Show...
and there was Rachel Belle's brilliant and moving story about the very bridge I was on and obsessed with.
I am linking you to that story now...
And if you can, find a way... listen to the Ron and Don Show, they are on KIRO, on the radio where you live... or on your computer.
They'll open your eyes.
And your mind.
Just like Rachel Belle did their show.
To hear Rachel's amazing story, click on the small horizontal link provide in the link below that plays the entire radio bridge story. It's on the bottom left area of the link below.
Please... pretty please.... click here to open your eyes and mind to how suicide affects all of us.
Aurora Bridge Suicides Through the Eyes of a Seattle Firefightere
All day and often into the night.
Years ago, I listened mostly to music, and still listen to it a lot.
It's helpful when I've got images in my head.... brain matter and blood spatter for instance...
photos of dead children... accident scenes..,..
or pictures of a squished sports car I just took on behalf of a deceased client who alive in that car before it went under that semi.
The music triggers some button in my brain and I find escape in the songs.
Depending on mood and cases, I travel between places to hard rock, soft rock and mellow.
I still can't handle "easy listening"
Mostly, however, I listen to talk radio -- specifically to the hosts and shows I've become familiar with over the many number of years I have lived in the Seattle area.
I love B.J. Shea in the morning.
And Ron and Don for the commute home.
Late at night I will confess. I listen to and like Tom Lycos (most women don't) and found great amusement and occasional insight in Dr Laura.
National Public Radio is my favorite radio place to be on the road on Saturday.
So a couple of weeks ago, I was driving into Seattle across the famous Aurora Bridge where many suicides happen.
MANY.
The statistics quoted are varied and astounding.
There are a whole lot of bodies falling by windows and landing near pedestrians, car or boats.
Sometimes jumpers hit the water, many times they hit the concrete... or the tops of cars...
which is mortifying to witnesses....
and routine, yet equally mortifying, to first responders and clean up crews.
As far as launching pads, the Aurora bridge used to be the one of choice for those who feel they have nothing left to live for.
Or no desire to feel the pain any more.
Yes, suicide is a choice.
It is probably the most painful choice a person can make, to end his or her life.
Imagine that.
Feeling so low, so alone, so afraid, so scared, so different, so desperate, so poor, so anxious, so bone tired, so humiliated, hopeless, whatever...
imagine feeling so bad about yourself, your existence.... you take the leap over the rails of the bridge.
I usually travel the Aurora Bridge to and from the ferry because it allows me to travel back in time while staying in the present. It also keeps me off the concrete sea, the freeway, I-5.
It is a bridge of so many stories I could tell you now.
One story is about a bus full of people sent flying high off that bridge by a lunatic criminal.
However, my time is limited and so is the attention span.
So back to the case in point.
Over the course of months... I have been going over the Aurora bridge watching the suicide barriers go up.
I was very skeptical as to how and whether they would work.
I listened to many talk radio debates about how these "activists" wanted the barriers put up, the city or some groups in the city were defiant and a waste of money.
People pro-barriers said, not only did the bridge make it too easy for someone to act on what is truly an impulse decision that often passes...
so many people were jumping, their bodies and flight and on impact were traumatizing the workers below who saw it happening all the time.
Imagine that.
So many people jumping. So many people seeing.
Not a good thing.
So I don't know when exactly, a couple weeks ago, I was driving over the bridge, the traffic was slowing, I slowed in a traffic jam took pictures of the new suicide gate/barrier going up. I knew I wanted to put a photo on Facebook and blog about it sometime.
Now is that time.
I'd blogged before about a similar bridge in China, though the Aurora Bridge was much more personal.
Because I have know more than casually two people who jumped off that bridge. For both, I think, the pain of living was so strong, they couldn't handle it any longer. No one even suspected the thought was in their minds. They hid it well.
So yesterday I was driving south on Aurora listening to the the Ron on Don Show.
Rachel Belle has joined them with what I think of as sidebar stories, which are always fascinating.
For road warriors like me, Ron and Don are the torch lights home.
They are the beacon that penetrates the darkness and endless sounds of drone cars on concrete trying to get us to and from our places at varying paces.
Ron and Don are popular because they don't care as much about ratings as about what matters.
And because they are like this, they have a huge following.
So yesterday, I delivered cases to a law firm, hopped in mu car and happily approached the Aurora Bridge northbound.
As I slowed enough to tick people behind me off.... I looked at the completed barriers, and viewed a roadside cross and picture placed on the rails of the bridge by the loves ones of a young woman who must have jumped before the barriers were complete.
Then, I flipped on the Ron and Don Show...
and there was Rachel Belle's brilliant and moving story about the very bridge I was on and obsessed with.
I am linking you to that story now...
And if you can, find a way... listen to the Ron and Don Show, they are on KIRO, on the radio where you live... or on your computer.
They'll open your eyes.
And your mind.
Just like Rachel Belle did their show.
To hear Rachel's amazing story, click on the small horizontal link provide in the link below that plays the entire radio bridge story. It's on the bottom left area of the link below.
Please... pretty please.... click here to open your eyes and mind to how suicide affects all of us.
Aurora Bridge Suicides Through the Eyes of a Seattle Firefightere
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)