There's a guy outside my window who's been threatening to jump all night!

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my wife woke me up this morning. it's currently 9.39am she thought that some people had been screaming all night (starting around 2am). she said she heard "HELP!" a lot. i questioned why she never woke up to find out who it was that needed help. i totally slept through all of it.

anyways, there's a guy dangling from the ledge of a 2-3 story building directly across from my window and there are tons of police officers and firemen trying to console him and try to get him to come down. he looks like he might be homeless and by his eratic actions he might be hopped up on some sort of drug (or he's just freaked in the head because he's been threatening to jump for 7hrs now)

http://www.art-ificial.com/jump/1.jpg

http://www.art-ificial.com/jump/2.jpg

― JaXoN (JasonD), Friday, 5 December 2003 17:46 (twenty-one years ago)

Dude! What's he gonna do, break a shinbone?

― TOMBOT, Friday, 5 December 2003 17:53 (twenty-one years ago)

777

― RJG (RJG), Friday, 5 December 2003 17:54 (twenty-one years ago)

well he has his coffee.

― Chris B. Sure (Chris V), Friday, 5 December 2003 18:01 (twenty-one years ago)

and who knew martha stewart now did suicide negotiations. she does everything!

― JaXoN (JasonD), Friday, 5 December 2003 18:05 (twenty-one years ago)

and that aero bed looks mighty cozy.

― Chris B. Sure (Chris V), Friday, 5 December 2003 18:07 (twenty-one years ago)

it also looks like that cop in the middle is really concerned. "hmmm is that dog shit on the bottom of my shoe."

― Chris B. Sure (Chris V), Friday, 5 December 2003 18:08 (twenty-one years ago)

it might make traffic on van ness flow a little better.

― Dean Gulberry (deangulberry), Friday, 5 December 2003 18:09 (twenty-one years ago)

I think he might just want an iPod.

― bnw (bnw), Friday, 5 December 2003 18:10 (twenty-one years ago)

and naked pictures of Bea Arthur

― stevem (blueski), Friday, 5 December 2003 18:12 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm fairly certain the rolls of white paper they've laid down on the concrete will soften the landing to a large degree.

― Gear! (Gear!), Friday, 5 December 2003 18:29 (twenty-one years ago)

They're 'absorbent'.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Friday, 5 December 2003 18:30 (twenty-one years ago)

god forbid he should see some change on the sidewalk from up there.

― Dean Gulberry (deangulberry), Friday, 5 December 2003 18:30 (twenty-one years ago)

They should set him on fire.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Friday, 5 December 2003 18:34 (twenty-one years ago)

If that young man had a decent job, he'd have no time for horseplay on rooftops.

― Dean Gulberry (deangulberry), Friday, 5 December 2003 18:37 (twenty-one years ago)

What does MEEEK mean? Who's this mysterious graffiti tagger?

― Gear! (Gear!), Friday, 5 December 2003 18:39 (twenty-one years ago)

the meeek shall inherit the earrrth

― Huckleberry Mann (Horace Mann), Friday, 5 December 2003 18:39 (twenty-one years ago)

I've fallen almost that far.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Friday, 5 December 2003 18:42 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah, the homeless are tuff.

― Dean Gulberry (deangulberry), Friday, 5 December 2003 18:43 (twenty-one years ago)

I like his shoes. Very white and clean.

― Gear! (Gear!), Friday, 5 December 2003 18:44 (twenty-one years ago)

*poseur*

― Dean Gulberry (deangulberry), Friday, 5 December 2003 18:46 (twenty-one years ago)

if you'll notice in the top left of the first picture, there's a tag by a guy called VEGAN. only in san fucking francisco

― JaXoN (JasonD), Friday, 5 December 2003 18:54 (twenty-one years ago)

I like the doors in the sidewalk in the bottom right.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Friday, 5 December 2003 18:56 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah, I've dropped off the side of a building from like 2.5 stories up a couple of times and all I wound up with were a sprained foot and a broken nose. You would really have to just dive into it from that height, I think. They should just push him into the mattresses and call it a day.

― TOMBOT, Friday, 5 December 2003 18:57 (twenty-one years ago)

the Meeek vs. the Vegans: Tonight, Tonight...

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Friday, 5 December 2003 18:57 (twenty-one years ago)

is he still there? if so, are you able to update it with a new picture? you're probably at work ...

― Dean Gulberry (deangulberry), Friday, 5 December 2003 18:59 (twenty-one years ago)

Rumble!

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Friday, 5 December 2003 19:01 (twenty-one years ago)

that's so weird. I went to school w/ a girl called megan veeek.

― RJG (RJG), Friday, 5 December 2003 19:04 (twenty-one years ago)

wow -real live ilx dirty harry!

― kephm, Friday, 5 December 2003 19:10 (twenty-one years ago)

unfortunately i'm not at work because i'm about to get laid off of my brand new 2month old job. told me to take the day off while they figure out things.

so it's 11.15, he's still here.

this is his threatening pose. if people come too close he dangles a little bit
http://www.art-ificial.com/jump/6.jpg

he looks pretty freaked
http://www.art-ificial.com/jump/4.jpg

he told everybody to leave him alone and he laid down.
http://www.art-ificial.com/jump/3.jpg

finally i think they're just getting sick of waiting so they pulled out the big guns.
http://www.art-ificial.com/jump/5.jpg

― JaXoN (JasonD), Friday, 5 December 2003 19:23 (twenty-one years ago)

I think jumping into that horrible car would be more painful in so many ways than jumping onto those mattresses.

― Allyzay, Friday, 5 December 2003 19:25 (twenty-one years ago)

they should get the k-9 unit onto the roof

― kephm, Friday, 5 December 2003 19:26 (twenty-one years ago)

a) he looks like an easily-lassoed suspect

b) if they coated the ground in soap or hope, he'd never jump

― Dean Gulberry (deangulberry), Friday, 5 December 2003 19:26 (twenty-one years ago)

he looks pretty freaked

That picture should be the cover of a Kool Keith project or something.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 5 December 2003 19:27 (twenty-one years ago)

If he jumps on that dude with the baseball cap, they have no one to blame but themselves. And hstencil.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Friday, 5 December 2003 19:27 (twenty-one years ago)

Also: http://www.myprops.co.uk/images/replica-sml/k9.gif

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Friday, 5 December 2003 19:27 (twenty-one years ago)

you should try to sell those photos, esp. if you're about to be laid off.

― Huckleberry Mann (Horace Mann), Friday, 5 December 2003 19:28 (twenty-one years ago)

i was thinking of selling them. who would i sell them too? local newspapers? what do i say?

― JaXoN (JasonD), Friday, 5 December 2003 19:30 (twenty-one years ago)

well, i just sold some of those to the chronicle. so, i guess that's out :)

― Dean Gulberry (deangulberry), Friday, 5 December 2003 19:31 (twenty-one years ago)

12 hours for the cops to figure a laddertruck may be a help ! genius.
if he jumps will you look away?

― kephm, Friday, 5 December 2003 19:32 (twenty-one years ago)

haha. ass

― JaXoN (JasonD), Friday, 5 December 2003 19:32 (twenty-one years ago)

that ass was directed at dean

― JaXoN (JasonD), Friday, 5 December 2003 19:32 (twenty-one years ago)

you know how i likes it bud

― Dean Gulberry (deangulberry), Friday, 5 December 2003 19:34 (twenty-one years ago)

i think your best bet is to shoot this guy, so that will make it was front page story and then your photos will be totally k-valueable

― Dean Gulberry (deangulberry), Friday, 5 December 2003 19:34 (twenty-one years ago)

If you sell those pix you'll be rolling in it!

http://www.gamers.com/i/pics/288810_t.jpg

― Gear! (Gear!), Friday, 5 December 2003 19:43 (twenty-one years ago)

That guy would be worth about 500 points in Grand Theft Auto.

― donut bitch (donut), Friday, 5 December 2003 19:45 (twenty-one years ago)

i don't really play games so that's not so much of a concern to me, but thanks

― JaXoN (JasonD), Friday, 5 December 2003 19:45 (twenty-one years ago)

well, not to poop on yr parade, but the fact that you've posted them here has diminished their value. but yeah try local papers first.
tabloids might buy too.
some papers have a policy against publishing suicide attempt photos for fear of creating the impression that it's an easy way to get publicity/attention.
but ask for the managing or deputy editor.

― Huckleberry Mann (Horace Mann), Friday, 5 December 2003 19:47 (twenty-one years ago)

i'm much more interested in whether these photos will be bought than the actual outcome of jumper. is this wrong?

― mark cunningham (robotsinlove), Friday, 5 December 2003 19:56 (twenty-one years ago)

a friend has suggested that i put my speakers out the window and blast Van Halen's "Jump" or kriss kross or house of pain or 'another one bites the dust'

― JaXoN (JasonD), Friday, 5 December 2003 19:59 (twenty-one years ago)

too easy.

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drf500/f596/f59631u2zw0.jpg

go for the 7th track of this one, instead.

― Kingfish Beestick (Kingfish), Friday, 5 December 2003 20:02 (twenty-one years ago)

On the 'pretty freaked' photo, he looks like he's doing a dance move.

― Sarah McLusky (coco), Friday, 5 December 2003 20:09 (twenty-one years ago)

I heard them mention him on KGO this morning... you could almost hear the smirk in the traffic reporters voice as she mentioned "a man threatening to jump from a one story building..."

― andy, Friday, 5 December 2003 20:11 (twenty-one years ago)

so what's the status, eh? is that big yellow lift proving to be the godsend or what?

― Dean Gulberry (deangulberry), Friday, 5 December 2003 20:12 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, the classic mid '80s Run-DMC stance

― nate detritus (natedetritus), Friday, 5 December 2003 20:12 (twenty-one years ago)

I like how the cop up on the roof brought a bottle of Cranberry Snapple with him.. just in case.

― may pang (maypang), Friday, 5 December 2003 20:13 (twenty-one years ago)

urinary tract infections don't stop for derelicts.

― Dean Gulberry (deangulberry), Friday, 5 December 2003 20:14 (twenty-one years ago)

he totally wanted that snapple. but he didn't want to leave his ledge. he told everybody to leave him alone so he could drink, but he never actually got it.

right now everybody has left him alone. there's no one on the truck either. it's pretty weird. he's probably freaked out by all the people.

― JaXoN (JasonD), Friday, 5 December 2003 20:18 (twenty-one years ago)

borrrring.

― may pang (maypang), Friday, 5 December 2003 20:20 (twenty-one years ago)

instigate something. it's your duty as a journalist.

― Dean Gulberry (deangulberry), Friday, 5 December 2003 20:21 (twenty-one years ago)

Do you have a BB gun?

― andy, Friday, 5 December 2003 20:23 (twenty-one years ago)

Why don't you shout out to him casually. "Hey! What's up?"

― Sarah McLusky (coco), Friday, 5 December 2003 20:25 (twenty-one years ago)

you should play charades with him.

― Dean Gulberry (deangulberry), Friday, 5 December 2003 20:26 (twenty-one years ago)

or "Hey, I put you on the internet! You're famous! You're Low Roof Man!"

― Huckleberry Mann (Horace Mann), Friday, 5 December 2003 20:26 (twenty-one years ago)

Why doesn't somebody just sneak up behind him and yell "boo" and get this shit over with, god.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Friday, 5 December 2003 20:26 (twenty-one years ago)

He kinda looks like David Blaine...

― andy, Friday, 5 December 2003 20:27 (twenty-one years ago)

ask him what his favorite star wars movie is, or something.

"dude! do you watch 'ER' anymore? what do you think!?"

― Kingfish Beestick (Kingfish), Friday, 5 December 2003 20:29 (twenty-one years ago)

if i weren't at work, i'd photoshop various hats on him! ooh that'd be pleasant!

― Dean Gulberry (deangulberry), Friday, 5 December 2003 20:30 (twenty-one years ago)

Dean = Ed Grimley

― Bryan (Bryan), Friday, 5 December 2003 20:31 (twenty-one years ago)

I'd turn him into an animated GIF with a MIDI of The Ketchup Song playing.

― may pang (maypang), Friday, 5 December 2003 20:32 (twenty-one years ago)

New picture! I feel lost now...

― andy, Friday, 5 December 2003 20:36 (twenty-one years ago)

This just in:

http://hot.ee/runescape3d/suicide.gif

― may pang (maypang), Friday, 5 December 2003 20:39 (twenty-one years ago)

JaXon, do you have a loud stereo and a copy of "Jump" by Kris Kross?

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Friday, 5 December 2003 20:46 (twenty-one years ago)

hey looky me!

― JaXon's post at 11:59 AM (gygax!), Friday, 5 December 2003 20:48 (twenty-one years ago)

that's been addressed upthread.

― Dean Gulberry (deangulberry), Friday, 5 December 2003 20:48 (twenty-one years ago)

But he still didn't answer the question!

― Sulky Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Friday, 5 December 2003 20:51 (twenty-one years ago)

i'll take his silence to mean "yes i have the kris kross, multiple copies in fact, but no i dont have a big stereo, all i have is my little sister's my little pony boombox"

― Dean Gulberry (deangulberry), Friday, 5 December 2003 20:57 (twenty-one years ago)

EVEN BETTER

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Friday, 5 December 2003 20:57 (twenty-one years ago)

WAYE BETTAR

― Dean Gulberry (deangulberry), Friday, 5 December 2003 20:58 (twenty-one years ago)

still nothing. 12.59pm. getting bored.

i'm thinking i'm gonna jump now instead. i'm on the 6th floor. it'll totally take the pressure off of him.

May, i kiss thee. great picture

― JaXoN (JasonD), Friday, 5 December 2003 21:04 (twenty-one years ago)

weak, call him a pussy.

― Dean Gulberry (deangulberry), Friday, 5 December 2003 21:05 (twenty-one years ago)

sfpd blowz. if that bum had a bag of fajitas, those cops would've been all over him by now.

― Dean Gulberry (deangulberry), Friday, 5 December 2003 21:05 (twenty-one years ago)

Spiderman could fix this.

― Hunter (Hunter), Friday, 5 December 2003 21:11 (twenty-one years ago)

"Put down the bag of fajitas. I repeat: put DOWN the bag of fajitas."

― may pang (maypang), Friday, 5 December 2003 21:15 (twenty-one years ago)

So what is the latest skinny on Fajitagate anyway?

― donut bitch (donut), Friday, 5 December 2003 21:33 (twenty-one years ago)

this whole thread is a little offputting, but i think that "freaked" pic could net you something, call the papers.

― g--ff (gcannon), Friday, 5 December 2003 21:39 (twenty-one years ago)

if they ask if you've leaked it already, lie.

― g--ff (gcannon), Friday, 5 December 2003 21:39 (twenty-one years ago)

more like boring.

― Dean Gulberry (deangulberry), Friday, 5 December 2003 21:40 (twenty-one years ago)

i mean, we've already left the realm of ethical behavior here.

― g--ff (gcannon), Friday, 5 December 2003 21:40 (twenty-one years ago)

Sell it! I once got $25 for lending BAM magazine Dave Navarro's 8th grade yearbook photo. The world is yours.

― donut bitch (donut), Friday, 5 December 2003 21:40 (twenty-one years ago)

OK I'm bored by this, did he jump yet or what?

― Allyzay, Friday, 5 December 2003 21:41 (twenty-one years ago)

i'll even be satisfied if someone just cuts him out of one of these pictures and puts him on the ground. seriously. add some blood too.

― Dean Gulberry (deangulberry), Friday, 5 December 2003 21:43 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah unless he bails, the photos aren't worth a thing.

― g--ff (gcannon), Friday, 5 December 2003 21:43 (twenty-one years ago)

Done and done.
http://www.worksongs.com/suicide.jpg

― may pang (maypang), Friday, 5 December 2003 21:59 (twenty-one years ago)

/me marries you

*kisses*

― Dean Gulberry (deangulberry), Friday, 5 December 2003 22:01 (twenty-one years ago)

Oh the humanity! And without his 16 oz. Seattle's Best Americano!

― donut bitch (donut), Friday, 5 December 2003 22:02 (twenty-one years ago)

he looks like a stillborn gerbil now.

― Dean Gulberry (deangulberry), Friday, 5 December 2003 22:07 (twenty-one years ago)

donut bitch, you got lowballed.

― hstencil, Friday, 5 December 2003 22:10 (twenty-one years ago)

"but it was just going to get cold."

http://www.worksongs.com/mug.jpg

― may pang (maypang), Friday, 5 December 2003 22:11 (twenty-one years ago)

And quit kissing me, you creeps. I'm a guy.

― may pang (maypang), Friday, 5 December 2003 22:11 (twenty-one years ago)

*double kisses*

― Dean Gulberry (deangulberry), Friday, 5 December 2003 22:13 (twenty-one years ago)

Nice.

― may pang (maypang), Friday, 5 December 2003 22:15 (twenty-one years ago)

Maybe we should lock this thread now that it ended the way we wanted? And by that I mean, suicide followed by text-based homoeroticism?

― Dean Gulberry (deangulberry), Friday, 5 December 2003 22:52 (twenty-one years ago)

and a cop with a warm cup o java. A happy ending somewhere admidst the tears.

― donut bitch (donut), Friday, 5 December 2003 22:57 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah. i am going to remember that cop as carl winslow. and i am going to remember that coffee as a peppermint latte. you know, for the holidays.

― Dean Gulberry (deangulberry), Friday, 5 December 2003 23:07 (twenty-one years ago)

"What tooks you off the street, Carl?"

http://www.diehardmovies.com/diehard1/image4.jpg

"I let a kid fall, dammit. Since then I've been behind a desk with doughnuts."

http://www.diehardmovies.com/diehard1/image5.jpg

― Gear! (Gear!), Friday, 5 December 2003 23:30 (twenty-one years ago)

http://www.worksongs.com/mug.jpg

"And peppermint latte. The best damn peppermint latte in this sad, sad town."

― Dean Gulberry (deangulberry), Friday, 5 December 2003 23:32 (twenty-one years ago)

I wish this thread had been called "There's a guy outside my window who's been threatening to hump all night!"

― Dean Gulberry (deangulberry), Friday, 5 December 2003 23:34 (twenty-one years ago)

Pfft, that's too mundane and everyday to start a whole thread for

― nate detritus (natedetritus), Friday, 5 December 2003 23:57 (twenty-one years ago)

okay, Sting.

― Dean Gulberry (deangulberry), Friday, 5 December 2003 23:59 (twenty-one years ago)

i left for lunch and record storing for an hour or two, came back and 5minutes before i got there,,,,,,,,, he jumped. head first

― JaXoN (JasonD), Saturday, 6 December 2003 01:49 (twenty-one years ago)

*gulp*

So, uh, he's dead, right?

― Sarah McLusky (coco), Saturday, 6 December 2003 01:58 (twenty-one years ago)

What - are you taking pictures?!

― Sarah McLusky (coco), Saturday, 6 December 2003 02:12 (twenty-one years ago)

he was being taken away right when i got there. no dead pictures. sorry. pretend May's pic is what it looked like

― JaXoN (JasonD), Saturday, 6 December 2003 02:13 (twenty-one years ago)

Shoot him with your pellet/BB/paintball gun. For max score.

― Helltime Producto (Pavlik), Saturday, 6 December 2003 02:14 (twenty-one years ago)

All of a sudden it's a lot less funny

― nate detritus (natedetritus), Saturday, 6 December 2003 02:15 (twenty-one years ago)

I almost suggested people stop being so funny.

― RJG (RJG), Saturday, 6 December 2003 02:18 (twenty-one years ago)

this sucks

― anthony kyle monday (akmonday), Saturday, 6 December 2003 02:19 (twenty-one years ago)

Is that for real?! What the fuck!

― Andrew (enneff), Saturday, 6 December 2003 02:23 (twenty-one years ago)

at what points did his suicide start, and stop, being funny?

― ssl, Saturday, 6 December 2003 02:48 (twenty-one years ago)

I didn't mean to suggest I wanted to see those pix. I was just curious as to the outcome.

― Sarah McLusky (coco), Saturday, 6 December 2003 02:57 (twenty-one years ago)

Well I didn't think it was all that funny in the first place (despite my "Run-DMC stance" quip) but I half played along because it seemed too surreal to be morbid. But all of a sudden I'm reminded of this.

And it's a few weeks before Christmas, too. Damn.

― nate detritus (natedetritus), Saturday, 6 December 2003 03:41 (twenty-one years ago)

i read this Lord of the Flies-ish thread and think, ok whatever. Yeah, it's really funny, a human being is going to die now. How sophisticated and jaded that it provides some entertainment. But that's just how I think about the issue. I'm not attacking anyone, I'm saying how the thread struck me. I'm always amazed at the whole "death-as-entertainment" thing no matter what the context (movies, serial killer fixation, graphic violence in comics) but I guess that just makes me twee.

― Orbit (Orbit), Saturday, 6 December 2003 03:46 (twenty-one years ago)

:-( That is a very sad story indeed.

I thought this guy would be saved by the fireman's truck thing early on. I didn't think he would actually jump.

― Sarah McLusky (coco), Saturday, 6 December 2003 03:46 (twenty-one years ago)

Orbit, from my message board experiences, there's always a sliding scale with the humor-during-morbid-setting threshold. If the first people to crack jokes are well-established posters with west-established histories of propriety, the floodgates open very quick. The only thing to stop it if someone comes in to scold, but this person has to be well established too. That's why I never risk saying shit in threads like this.

― Dancing Queen, Saturday, 6 December 2003 03:49 (twenty-one years ago)

If he's dead now I feel like going up to SF and laying flowers down for this bloke at that spot. This is really awful, now I feel like a shit.

― Gear! (Gear!), Saturday, 6 December 2003 03:58 (twenty-one years ago)

you people are sick

― D Aziz (esquire1983), Saturday, 6 December 2003 04:45 (twenty-one years ago)

++I'm always amazed at the whole "death-as-entertainment" thing no matter what the context...++

ditto. (this is why i clicked on the thread to being with).
if this had been on the televison, i would not have watched, i am sure of this. but by JaXon explaining everything & the details of his day-it was quite surreal. grotesque-yes

another thing, if the thread did not have pictures, i would of been more creeped out by the subject matter

poor fellow. i hope he is in a happier place. i see suicide as a potential release from the confines of flesh & blood. a possible freedom.

― kephm, Saturday, 6 December 2003 05:22 (twenty-one years ago)

oh & was anyone else thinking of Weegee throughout the whole thread?

― kephm, Saturday, 6 December 2003 05:26 (twenty-one years ago)

Y'are all sick, mafuckers!

― Michael Stuchbery (Mikey Bidness), Saturday, 6 December 2003 07:43 (twenty-one years ago)

No, no. There was no way that early posters had a sense the guy would jump. It's pretty important to give yourselves a break. Humans tend to deal with extreme situations kind of hysterically -- using bleak, dark humour, etc., as a means to distance themselves from the visceral horror and bleak reality. I read this thread without commenting and gave up about two posts before the announcement that the guy actually jumped. Up until then, the worst people here could be accused of was tastelessness. Now, in the light of what ultimately occured, it seems cruel and vicious.

Sure, those of us who didn't initially comment can be all self-righteous now, even if we secretly giggled at the earlier posts. But what the fuck good does that do?

This is sad, and the reasons behind similar senseless deaths are shrouded and bewildering, but unless we want to add to the wold's pain, we oughta take a deep breath and realize how peripheral all these detached, humourous posts were in the first place.

Poor guy.

― David A. (Davant), Saturday, 6 December 2003 08:13 (twenty-one years ago)

wold = world

― David A. (Davant), Saturday, 6 December 2003 08:14 (twenty-one years ago)

Dancing Queen OTM, btw.

― David A. (Davant), Saturday, 6 December 2003 08:15 (twenty-one years ago)

i think i should clarify. i don't think he died. they took him away on a back brace and not a body bag. he's probably severely injured, but since i wasn't here when it happened, i don't really know. from what i was told he sort of landed on his shoulder and then hit his head.

and yes, we all believed (myself especially seeing all of it unfold) that he would be pulled down. it was rather silly that he was threatening to jump from 2 stories high. this is where most of the humor started from. it's as if someone said, "i'm going to kill myself by slicing my wrists with this here piece of brocoli"

i appologize for starting this thread if it offended anyone, that wasn't my intention.

― JaXoN (JasonD), Saturday, 6 December 2003 08:59 (twenty-one years ago)

and on a side note: oh & was anyone else thinking of Weegee throughout the whole thread?

i'm a huge weegee fan and my final assignment (80 slides set to music) in my photo class was "The fine line between sleep and death". i went around the city taking pictures of the huge homeless population sleeping on the streets. i also set up a bunch of fake suicide scenes: people with hairdryers in the bathtub, i set up a big tube from the exhaust of my car to the window and had someone pretend they were asleep at the wheel, a friend with a shotgun in his mouth (very freaky even to me), a bag over his head, a hand with prescription pills falling out of it.

and i set it to Joseph Spence's "I Bid You Goodnight". it's a sorta bouncy folk blues song and he plays and sings like he doesn't really know how. the weirdest thing about the class (very similar to what happened on this thread) is that a very sinister and creepy topic turned funny. everybody was cracking up throughout the entire slide show. it wasn't the intention i had at all, but either people don't know how to deal with death and suicide and cover it up with humor, or the juxtoposition of this sort of lighthearted music made people think it was funny.

i bookended the pictures with two quotes

a) "sleep, those little slices of death. how i loath them" - poe
b) "death - the last sleep? no, it is the final awakening" - william scott

― JaXoN (JasonD), Saturday, 6 December 2003 09:13 (twenty-one years ago)

this is the worst thing i've ever seen on ilx. hope y'all got your laughs in while you could!

― mark p (Mark P), Saturday, 6 December 2003 18:39 (twenty-one years ago)

it is interesting to note that the majority of the comments, whether you think they are funny or not, originated while the man was still on the roof, where it was thought he wouldnt really jump, and that even if he did, it was only one storey (though of course one storey is plenty if you really want to do it)

while the majority of the criticism ocurred after the event.

this is 2 differing opinions of what has happened, but not located at the same point in time. is it possible to have felt both, at the respective junctures? of the people criticising the thread, only g--ff did it before he jumped. the others didnt until after, i wonder how they felt before, whether they didnt believe it would happen, or thought that it was a little sick but no big deal?

i dont really think i thought anything of it until after he had jumped, when it suddenly became more real

― charltonlido (gareth), Saturday, 6 December 2003 18:49 (twenty-one years ago)

i didn't see the thread until just now, and i read it not knowing what the outcome would be, but the pictures of the man hanging off the building scared me and i don't really understand how that sort of thing could've possibly been any funnier in realtime.

― mark p (Mark P), Saturday, 6 December 2003 18:56 (twenty-one years ago)

Agreed w/Charltonlido. Prior to the jump, it appeared to be a situation where someone was simply trying to get some attention in a rather disingenuous fashion, though in retrospect the standing photo is quite disturbing.

Inherent rationality leads one to believe that a person wouldn't really jump headfirst onto the concrete even when threatening to do so. Post-jump, the tragedy of the initial situation becomes clearer.

― webcrack (music=crack), Saturday, 6 December 2003 19:07 (twenty-one years ago)

What I'm wondering is what led everyone to think he was homeless? He wasn't dressed all sharp but maybe he got laid off, too (from a minuimum-wage warehouse inventory job or something, maybe even at the very building he jumped off) and just panicked.

― nate detritus (natedetritus), Saturday, 6 December 2003 19:12 (twenty-one years ago)

Aw man, I just read this whole thread, and what an uneasy feeling it gave me.

― A Nairn (moretap), Saturday, 6 December 2003 19:12 (twenty-one years ago)

you needed him to jump before you realized it was a tragic situation?!? does your 'inherent rationality' not also tell you that an 'inherently rational' person would not be up there in the first place or does that information need to be delivered in pie charts?

― mark p (Mark P), Saturday, 6 December 2003 19:14 (twenty-one years ago)

yes, but the question is, did it make you feel uneasy when reading it prior to the jump? and if so, to the same level?

― charltonlido (gareth), Saturday, 6 December 2003 19:15 (twenty-one years ago)

mark, surely on an intellectual level we know it is possible he will jump, but at the same time, a large number of these cases end with the man being brought down, not having jumped. couple this with the low height of the building and it is easier to believe it is something he is slighty less than 100% about doing, especially when you consider how long he was up there.

― charltonlido (gareth), Saturday, 6 December 2003 19:17 (twenty-one years ago)

mark p:

clearer = more clear than before. Please read and comprehend the post prior to attacking me for it.

― webcrack (music=crack), Saturday, 6 December 2003 19:19 (twenty-one years ago)

as an aside, i had a friend who killed himself in equally tragi-comic circumstances, which i have never really uncovered properly, and so still lend the event with an air of unreality. but for some reason he was fiddling with a crossbow and the neigbours thought he had a hostage and the police were called, surrounding the building. i dont know how, but somehow he panicked and ended up shooting himself through the head.

i have no idea how any of this came to pass, ie, what was he doing with a crossbow in the first place? and from then on in, well...

― charltonlido (gareth), Saturday, 6 December 2003 19:20 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm wondering what the cops tried to say or do to prevent this. That must be a very difficult situation for them.

― A Nairn (moretap), Saturday, 6 December 2003 19:20 (twenty-one years ago)

"yes, but the question is, did it make you feel uneasy when reading it prior to the jump? and if so, to the same level? "

I did look at little yesterday, and seeing the initial pictures and the title did make me feel uneasy, but then reading a few of the lighthearted comments took me away from the reality of it. Then farther down when it was said he actually did jump the reality suddenly came back.

― A Nairn (moretap), Saturday, 6 December 2003 19:24 (twenty-one years ago)

Also, I was referring to the 'inherent rationality' of the viewer, which would prevent the viewer from being able to completely empathize with the mindset of the man threatening to jump--not suggesting that he wouldn't jump because he was 'inherently rational'. If it wasn't clear, sorry--I figure that I don't need to spell out my intent every time I use language on this board.

― webcrack (music=crack), Saturday, 6 December 2003 19:24 (twenty-one years ago)

Think if his family members or friends stumble across this thread.

― A Nairn (moretap), Saturday, 6 December 2003 19:30 (twenty-one years ago)

or HIM.

― nate detritus (natedetritus), Saturday, 6 December 2003 20:34 (twenty-one years ago)

During the time it was going on I was actually frustrated trying to think of a foolproof way to net him or something (thus the spiderman comment). Isn't there some kind of net gun or something? Or something that would necessarily knock him backwards? Now, were he to get hurt thereby he'd probly sue, not to mention the stealth required.

Anyway I say this not to exonerate myself, I feel loathsome, complicit and like I need a shower. This was way foreseeable. Delete the thread or at least the photos mod.

― Hunter (Hunter), Saturday, 6 December 2003 20:37 (twenty-one years ago)

WTF, why didn't they just grab him with that truck? Or inflate some more substantial jumper-catcher padding things underneath him? I mean, if they had time to pull the truck up, they had time to do that...

― Dan I., Saturday, 6 December 2003 23:00 (twenty-one years ago)

that's unfortunate that he's dead now. i can't say that i didn't see it coming. for some reason, everyone else is saying that they had no idea that something bad would happen to him. lucky for you all then, i guess. i think it was extremely obvious from the first post that this guy had some mental problems to begin with, so how people can claim that they never thought anything bad would come of this situation is beyond me. maybe you're all just perfectly optimistic. anyways, bad situation and it ended badly but not as badly as it could have. i stand by everything i've said in this thread. they are my words, after all.

― Dean Gulberry (deangulberry), Sunday, 7 December 2003 00:12 (twenty-one years ago)

that's unfortunate that he's dead now.

Er, hasn't Jaxon said that apparently he's NOT dead? Or is there a separate news report?

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 7 December 2003 00:16 (twenty-one years ago)

i dont think it is the fact that there are people saying 'i didnt think he would do it' at the time, more the lack of people saying 'he is going to do it, and you shouldnt laugh' at the time, only after. thats what gives that impression

of all of ilx, only g--ff posted something to this effect before the jump. where were the other people who agreed with him then, and why, when reading through this thread, does it show that people are only agreeing with g--ff, after the event occurred?

― charltonlido (gareth), Sunday, 7 December 2003 00:17 (twenty-one years ago)

my apologies, ned, you're right. reorganizing CDs + headcold = incoherency. thanks for picking up on it. anyhow, my statement probably only shows exactly how much impact this really has on a bulletin board, that the difference between his life and death is a few misread and mistyped keystrokes.

either way, i stand by my earlier sarcasm upthread pre-jump. your pictures ARE worth more now. hurrah hurrah money money.

― Dean Gulberry (deangulberry), Sunday, 7 December 2003 00:26 (twenty-one years ago)

i checked around (surprise, surprise, there was no news coverage of this) and he only broke a leg and bumped his head. he also was homeless and came from down the street at the mental health facility.

i've changed the names of the files on the images for those of you with queasy stomachs who i might have offended. if you're still curious, you can view source on this page and do a little sluething.

― JaXoN (JasonD), Sunday, 7 December 2003 02:45 (twenty-one years ago)

oh, and those barely 6inch "absorbent" matresses are still lying on the sidewalk? wtf

― JaXoN (JasonD), Sunday, 7 December 2003 02:49 (twenty-one years ago)

gareth i suggest that a lot of people missed their opportunity to speak up about this thread while he was still on the roof, simply because they didnt read the thread in time. i was certainly disturbed by this thread from the outset and wanted to say something only to find out further along that he had already jumped and it was too late for that.

― minna (minna), Sunday, 7 December 2003 03:21 (twenty-one years ago)

http://www.touched.com/seasonnine/908-Jump!.jpg

― Dada, Sunday, 7 December 2003 05:01 (twenty-one years ago)

What have we learnt? Suicide isn't funny. Now we can remove our hands from the depths of our trousers and cease our frantic ministrations and get on with the business of trying to guess what that scamp Dada will come up with next!

― Michael Stuchbery (Mikey Bidness), Sunday, 7 December 2003 05:07 (twenty-one years ago)

and will he summon the Daddy Mack or the Mack Daddy first? OH THE SUSPENSE

― Kingfish Beestick (Kingfish), Sunday, 7 December 2003 05:38 (twenty-one years ago)

Firstly, I would suggest someone considers deleting this thread, because it is possible it could become a meme like the log of the IRCers who laughed at the guy who bragged he took an OD and later died. Does the board really want to be known for that sort of shit?

Secondly, tho I may not have spoken out, I thought this was totally unfunny and I'm a bit disapointed really.

― Trayce (trayce), Sunday, 7 December 2003 05:57 (twenty-one years ago)

a. anything can be funny. funny is not a moral value, but a physical one.

b. it's been a high stress winter for me and a few of my close friends. the idea of pitching oneself off a building is not so unfamiliar.

c. i've had to do a lot of reading lately on ethical issues in media. the photography of newsworthy tragedies is a continually contested area. it has been described as conflicting duties or loyalties; the photographer's job to cover events as they unfold in real time (serving the public's 'right' to know) vs the 'right' of individuals to control the exposure of their lives, especially at death. photogs have the luxury of erring on the side of overexposure; decisions on what to actually run can be made later. amateur photo/videogs complicate things somewhat, though it's hard to determine the moral difference between recording personal curiosity and satisfying public curiosity.

'shoot first decide later' means an abdication of responsibility, as in a famous photo of a fire-escape collapse in boston in the 70s. two young black women, one only around 5, captured in mid air, metal all around them; the building fire itself is not visible. one immediately died from the fall. the globe's editors ran the photo front page, above the fold, many other papers nationwide picked it up as well. community outcry was enormous; meanwhile the photog won a pulitzer but was never comfortable with the use of the photo. the paper justified it by saying it called attention to the poor upkeep of safety exits on rental properties.

similarly, in the 90s a man held up traffic on an LA freeway in an apparent protest against hmo's. he was being filmed live by helicopter. he set fire to his pickup and (iirc) shot his dog with a shotgun. he was unstable and behaving erratically, at one point seemingly planning to set himself on fire, and later to jump off the overpass to another freeway below. as he picked up his shotgun a second time, the on-air anchor repeatedly admonished the chopper crew to keep the zoom out at a 'safe' distance (i don't know what word to use instead of safe; 'respectable'?) which was only momentarily complied with. the man crouched, put the barrel in his mouth, and shot himself. later rebroadcasts did not include this, but the tape entered posterity, if only to be viewed by college media ethics courses, supposedly learning the lesson this thread itself teaches, whatever that is.

― g--ff (gcannon), Sunday, 7 December 2003 09:13 (twenty-one years ago)

also, 9/11 coverage

and the photo of marc vivien foe that ran on the front page of most of the national newspapers with his dead eyes looking straight into camera

― charltonlido (gareth), Sunday, 7 December 2003 09:46 (twenty-one years ago)

His dead PHOTOSHOPPED eyes, Gareth. Don't forget that.

― Markelby (Mark C), Sunday, 7 December 2003 10:17 (twenty-one years ago)

:( i had a feeling my silliness would be vindicated with reality. i feel really shitty now

― donut bitch (donut), Sunday, 7 December 2003 10:21 (twenty-one years ago)

G--ff or anyone else, did you see "City of God"?
It has a really amazing part in it with photography and gang violence in Bazil.

― A Nairn (moretap), Sunday, 7 December 2003 11:51 (twenty-one years ago)

First off, I would like to apologize for making a tasteless joke about this.

Secondly, all of the sanctimonious assholes who popped up after the fact to tell the people should:

A) realize that different people deal with uncomfortable and/or dangerous situations in different ways;

B) fuck off.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Sunday, 7 December 2003 21:16 (twenty-one years ago)

Using less harsh terms, I kinda agree with Dan. Usually, events like this usually end up being not tragic, so any fun pointed at the guy earlier in the thread was obviously done in the spirit and hope that the police would be able to just calmly get this guy off the roof and let the anti-climax arrive. Unfortunately, it didn't turn out that way.

But anyone who puts themselves on a pedestal and makes me feel guilty for my jokes, and just assume those jokes can now be recontextualized to point fun at the guy AFTER the jump can certainly fuck off.

― donut bitch (donut), Sunday, 7 December 2003 22:02 (twenty-one years ago)

this doesn't change the fact that I feel bad about what happened. I still feel uncomfortable seeing the juxtaposition of the silliness pre-jump and what's happened since. But I did not make jokes AFTER the jump, so i'm not going to lose sleep over my actions.. perhaps for the guy in question, but not my reputation.

― donut bitch (donut), Sunday, 7 December 2003 22:04 (twenty-one years ago)

dan & db i hope you don't think i was pedestalizing.

― g--ff (gcannon), Sunday, 7 December 2003 22:10 (twenty-one years ago)

Course not, g--ff, you actually described in detail an interesting media phenomenon and then some.

― donut bitch (donut), Sunday, 7 December 2003 22:12 (twenty-one years ago)

(and you also trumped Dan on his funny/tragedy/subjectiveness point, kinda.)

― donut bitch (donut), Sunday, 7 December 2003 22:13 (twenty-one years ago)

wtf!

mark p - I agree with you.

― Kim (Kim), Sunday, 7 December 2003 23:28 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm not trying to be righteous at all. Cope how y'all cope, doesn't bother me really, I know in the right (wrong?) circumstances I'd probably joke about death too (9/11 a great example - we were far enough away from it to make loads of shitty tasteless jokes).

I just worry this thread might (MIGHT) make ILX as a whole look callous and horrible were it to be seen out of context and end up on like, memepool or somewhere. Just my own gut feeling.

Fuck whatever, you lot, I'm too sleep depped and shitty to deal with being called a sanctimonious prick, I wont darken this thread anymore.

― Trayce (trayce), Sunday, 7 December 2003 23:38 (twenty-one years ago)

what city is this?

― Aaron A., Sunday, 7 December 2003 23:43 (twenty-one years ago)

love memepool as I do, that'd be a pretty fragile glass house.

― bnw (bnw), Sunday, 7 December 2003 23:47 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm not very good at off-fucking

― nate detritus (natedetritus), Monday, 8 December 2003 00:18 (twenty-one years ago)

what city is this?

San Francisco

― JaXoN (JasonD), Monday, 8 December 2003 00:32 (twenty-one years ago)

This is one of the most interesting threads that has ever been on ILX. It was odd to come into it after it had all happened, seeing red X's instead of photos that you were all laughing over, and wondering what had happened.

Someone jumped/fell/or was pushed from a building across the road from us last week. When we came back from Wiltshire, our road was all blocked off. HSA's mum parked while he ran off to see what was up. He came back visibly shaken, saying there was a dead body in the middle of the road, and the neighbours said that someone had committed suicide. The next day, the police came round knocking on doors and asking on the street if anyone had seen anything, thinking that it might not have been suicide.

There's still a giant police sign outside our house asking for information saying "UNEXPLAINED DEATH" or something like that.

But, regardless, this has been an interesting thread, both in the reactions of people before the jump, and the reactions of others afterwards.

― THAT Kate (kate), Monday, 8 December 2003 09:53 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, and really, how many people were sanctimonious afterwards? My own post was maybe a heavy-handed attempt to make those who had been flippant/humorous earlier feel better once we'd learned the guy had jumped, that there's nothing monstrous about using humour in a traumatic event. And then, others who came late... how could they be blamed for feeling a little nauseated by the apparent indifference and levity (note word "apparent") shown by earlier posters?

I agree with Kate above -- this is interesting, from an "internet community" perspective (apologies for how sociological/silly that sounds), but it also seems important to acknowledge the personal tragedy aspect, too. I feel really fucking sorry for this dude. and no-one should feel bad unless they had malice in their hearts -- something only the individual posters can know.

I don't know if I'm making sense. Help.

― David A. (Davant), Monday, 8 December 2003 10:13 (twenty-one years ago)

as he picked up his shotgun a second time, the on-air anchor repeatedly admonished the chopper crew to keep the zoom out at a 'safe' distance (i don't know what word to use instead of safe; 'respectable'?)

I remember vividly when this happened and there were differences between how network/local channel chose to cover it depending on how close their helicopter crews were. Most stations either zoomed out or cut to an in-studio shot once the guy pointed the gun at himself. A couple stations did nothing, and yet another (Telemundo) actually zoomed in.

― Elvis Telecom (Chris Barrus), Monday, 8 December 2003 10:43 (twenty-one years ago)

The reaction to this thread needs a new thread. This thread is important, and I'm not sure why. I'd start the thread myself, but I'm not sure what to say. Except that it IS important.

― Johnney B (Johnney B), Monday, 8 December 2003 12:41 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm with Kate here - I've only just read this thread and it *is* one of the most thought-provoking things I've ever seen on this board. It's kind of creepy to think that whoever this bloke is, and everyone connected with him, could have no idea whatsoever that his suicide attempt was documented on the Net in real time. A line of some sort has been crossed here with regard to the way the Internet and Real Life intersect - far more than the 9/11 threads or the first few days of the Iraq war.

Without being sanctimonious or wanting to condemn anyone, I do wonder if anyone WILL put their hands up and admit to being entertained by the first few posts and the strange voyeurism involved.

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Monday, 8 December 2003 15:41 (twenty-one years ago)

all the people who posted at the time presumably?

― charltonlido (gareth), Monday, 8 December 2003 15:43 (twenty-one years ago)

What's weirdest of all about reading this thread now is that all the real photos have been removed, and the only thing left are the joke photos. It's bizarre to read it without the photos.

― THAT Kate (kate), Monday, 8 December 2003 15:44 (twenty-one years ago)

this IS the most thought provoking "x" ive sene on the net.
thepolice (and how they did not handle this very well)& jaXOns point-of-view-flux kept me reading the thread

― kephm, Monday, 8 December 2003 15:50 (twenty-one years ago)

(when i asked JaXon if he would watch if the man jumped, it was not for a laugh, i wanted to get more into his head)
i have to say, i do not think my perspective was one that many other posters (early on) shared

― kephm, Monday, 8 December 2003 15:53 (twenty-one years ago)

I wouldn't have joked as I did had I not personally fallen similar distances myself on more than one occasion.

it was rather silly that he was threatening to jump from 2 stories high. this is where most of the humor started from. it's as if someone said, "i'm going to kill myself by slicing my wrists with this here piece of brocoli"

OTM

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Monday, 8 December 2003 16:04 (twenty-one years ago)

Equally - with regard to the condemnation upthread - why DOES anyone on this thread with the exception of JaXon have to care about whether someone they have never met lives or dies? Especially as they are only given a window into this even through someone else they have (probably) never met and whose only connection with this person is being at a certain place at a certain time? What makes this man any different to the thousands of other people dying around the world on any given day of all sorts of things? Because we can see him?

Nick - that's not OTM. I am sure it is perfectly possible to kill oneself by falling two storeys onto your head.

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Monday, 8 December 2003 16:07 (twenty-one years ago)

I just thought it was a movie.

― may pang (maypang), Monday, 8 December 2003 16:11 (twenty-one years ago)

That's what I'm saying. I wrote a HUGE big entry this morning, and then deleted it, 'cause it made me sound stupider than I am, but the gist of it had to do with honesty. I have to say, I was giggling along with the posts. Not out of any straneg voyerism (I honestly don't think that was involved), but it was all 'just a bit of fun' until the chap decided to go. Then the emotional turn-around was immense, and personally I felt really shitty very quickly.

Matt DC, yes, he IS different because we can see him. I dunno abotu anyone else, but I certainly felt different. Mind you, I think its the personal reaction to one's own emotional response that talks to me the most, rather than anythign else that went on.

― Johnney B (Johnney B), Monday, 8 December 2003 16:11 (twenty-one years ago)

it didnt seem that way at the time though. like, i think maybe we were thinking of falling two storeys, in which case you will land a certain way, and probably come out not too bad, rather than thinking of jumping with intent two storeys, in which case you will aim head first and the outcome is likely to be vastly different

― charltonlido (gareth), Monday, 8 December 2003 16:13 (twenty-one years ago)

Also, Nza, wtf have you been falling 2 storeys several times for??

― Markelby (Mark C), Monday, 8 December 2003 16:16 (twenty-one years ago)

the ile "f*ckyou!" thread was far more disturbing.

― kephm, Monday, 8 December 2003 16:21 (twenty-one years ago)

kephm, link please.

― Johnney B (Johnney B), Monday, 8 December 2003 16:22 (twenty-one years ago)

That made me sound like a really sick guy, didn't it?

― Johnney B (Johnney B), Monday, 8 December 2003 16:23 (twenty-one years ago)

― kephm, Monday, 8 December 2003 16:27 (twenty-one years ago)

I've fallen from the roof of a 2 story house onto concrete (I sprained the fuck out of my ankle but broke no bones), I was dumbassedly shimmying up a narrow alley between two 3 story buildings and fell when I was almost to the top & fractured several bones in my hand, once I fell off a radio tower and landed on my back (somehow only knocked the wind out of myself that time), and I've fallen from a approximately 50 foot cliff and not broken anything (granted, that time I had fallen on soil and not concrete).

And honestly I didnae take into account the falling-off-and-landing-ON-YOUR-HEAD aspect, or the intent-to-jump factor. I've been lucky enough to land on my feet for the most part, and all of my mishaps so far have been accidents. So I'm just gonna back away from this conversation with my hands in the air.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Monday, 8 December 2003 16:31 (twenty-one years ago)

nickalicious, you just made me wonder about something (aside from giggling at your accident-proneness): is it even possible to land on your head if you do a swan dive off of a roof? I mean, isn't there a reflex (similar to the blink reflex) that would make you put your hands out to cushion the fall -- even if you'd jumped on purpose (like Eminem flinching in the video to "The way I Am" just as the ground rushes up to meet him)?* I got bounced about 15 feet off a trampoline once (yes, I'm an idiot) and I landed face first, but I cushioned the fall with outstretched arms (I split the ends of both radius bones. See? Idiot, right?).

*Yeah, I know that's fiction, but I imagine this would happen.

― David A. (Davant), Monday, 8 December 2003 19:38 (twenty-one years ago)

If it makes the initial posters feel any better, I found the prelapsarian bits of the thread kinda funny, in that "not posting it to excelsior, but funny enough to click back when there are new messages" way, and I don't find them any less funny now.

― Tep (ktepi), Monday, 8 December 2003 19:44 (twenty-one years ago)

See, I think I found a few of the comments funny at the time, but I differ from you in that I don't find them funny now. Is that weirdly hypocritical?

― David A. (Davant), Monday, 8 December 2003 19:54 (twenty-one years ago)

Maybe. Well, maybe to both the "weirdly" and the "hypocritical" :) I don't know what your reasons are.

The tone of the thread itself is different now, so that could kill the funny for you, and there's nothing hypocritical about that, really.

― Tep (ktepi), Monday, 8 December 2003 20:06 (twenty-one years ago)

I should add that I don't judge the people who made those "funny" comments, though. I don't like self righteousness as a character trait (he says, self-righteously, d'oh!). But yeah, the tone, and just that he actually did jump. Both killed the funny. (But, really, it has to be more the latter than just the tone.)

― David A. (Davant), Monday, 8 December 2003 20:23 (twenty-one years ago)

hey everybody, it's sad that this guy is sick and he jumped, but he JUST BROKE HIS LEG

please stop thinking he's dead

― JaXoN (JasonD), Monday, 8 December 2003 20:49 (twenty-one years ago)

See, that's one reason it's still funny, that's exactly what Tom said he'd do!

― Tep (ktepi), Monday, 8 December 2003 21:01 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah, looks at all the pain this jerk has caused by not dying.

― Dean Gulberry (deangulberry), Monday, 8 December 2003 21:07 (twenty-one years ago)

despite all the ILX concern and Ja><0n's internet play by play, this never made the local news.

― gygax! (gygax!), Monday, 8 December 2003 21:07 (twenty-one years ago)

well, i think sf bums have to try much harder.

― Dean Gulberry (deangulberry), Monday, 8 December 2003 21:10 (twenty-one years ago)

that's the big league, man. this isn't albuquerque.

― Dean Gulberry (deangulberry), Monday, 8 December 2003 21:10 (twenty-one years ago)

I read this thread for the first time almost immediately post-jump. It was kind of funny until the photo of the man standing up and hugging himself, with one of the most wierdly vacant and frightening expressions on his face that I've ever seen. I kept reading the thread but that was the point when I thought "this may not turn out well". It wasn't really funny anymore after seeing him up close.

― webcrack (music=crack), Monday, 8 December 2003 23:15 (twenty-one years ago)

Thats more why I felt a bit off about this right from the start (and no, I'm not being self righteous, if others thought it was funny good on 'em). I found myself thinking though: "why is this funny because its one storey up and hes a silly supposedly homeless man? Look at his face, he looks pretty disturbed and scared".

If the person on the roof had been a famous singer y'all love, and it looked like something was amiss with them to be on that roof, would you still have made stupid cracks about it?

(NB: person on roof being Marissa Mentalist does not count in my hypothetical here ;P)

― Trayce (trayce), Tuesday, 9 December 2003 00:25 (twenty-one years ago)

If it had been Michael Jackson, I might have exploded.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 9 December 2003 03:54 (twenty-one years ago)

With LOVE

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 9 December 2003 03:56 (twenty-one years ago)

weirdly vacant and frightening expressions

After the jump that was what stuck in my mind, I actually went back to look at it. You try to interpret it. Is that the abyss staring back, or is it a belly full of booze?

― Hunter (Hunter), Tuesday, 9 December 2003 04:08 (twenty-one years ago)

Think if his family members or friends stumble across this thread.
-- A Nairn (moreta...), December 6th, 2003.

or HIM.
-- nate detritus (n***p*****550...), December 6th, 2003.

Classic one-two punch of this whole thread. Real Abbott-Costello type shit. Genius. I'm sure the reason he was on that roof was because his iMac was on the fritz. Wocka wocka.

― Dean Gulberry (deangulberry), Tuesday, 9 December 2003 04:52 (twenty-one years ago)

Jumpers never make the news. Our mysterious half-nude jumper didn't make the local news. He got about 5 lines in the Camden New Journal, mainly because they were asking for information, cause I don't think they could figure out who he was.

― THAT Kate (kate), Tuesday, 9 December 2003 09:08 (twenty-one years ago)

Okay I'm a latecomer to this thread but whenever I hear anything about people falling from buildings I always have to check to see how high it was because I'm competitive. My fall was four stories, muthafucka! Take that! etc. It also did not make the news. But then again I wasn't a jumper, I just fell.
That said, I came out of it with a broken back and leg broken in two places and am pretty much fine. This is after spending the better part of a year in a wheelchair learning to walk again. I found this thread to be pretty funny, but then again as I was lying on the ground in pain I was cracking (lame) jokes about how it looks really easy when Catwoman bounces off buildings, etc.

Black humor is a necessary part of coping with life. You laugh to keep from crying. It doesn't make you insensitive or inhumane or a shit in general. It's not like anyone here was on the street itself laughing and pointing and throwing rocks at him.

― Catty (Catty), Tuesday, 9 December 2003 12:30 (twenty-one years ago)

five years pass...

there's someone across my (new) house threatening to jump again.

firetrucks have blocked off the whole street. i even saw a cop w/a shotgun!

― (jaxon) ( .) ( .) (jaxon), Wednesday, 13 May 2009 01:12 (sixteen years ago)

There's a guy outside my window who's been threatening to jump all night!

wouldn't he get tired?

― totally dude (Curt1s Stephens), Wednesday, 13 May 2009 01:48 (sixteen years ago)

I rewatched Best in Show on Sunday and I forgot the guy whose job was talking people down from suicides. "They always jump." Later his son's on the roof & he's yelling things at the kid like "I will shove my thumb in your eyeball until it's jelly!" OH MY GOD the laughs.

― test drives at ur own risk i cant go with you too many bees (Abbott), Wednesday, 13 May 2009 03:53 (sixteen years ago)

Jumpers never make the news.

I think these things aren't usually published to prevent copycat suicides, which are a sad but true thing.

― test drives at ur own risk i cant go with you too many bees (Abbott), Wednesday, 13 May 2009 03:54 (sixteen years ago)

There was a guy in Manchester (UK) quite a few years ago on top of department store threatening to jump. The crowds were treating it like a day out, shouting jump and laughing. Quite a bizarre moment really 1st time you see it.

jaxon, maybe it’s a sign, maybe you have to dedicate your life to save jumpers?

― not_goodwin, Wednesday, 13 May 2009 07:50 (sixteen years ago)

i even saw a cop w/a shotgun!

What's the thinking there? Don't jump or we'll shoot?

― Ned Trifle II, Wednesday, 13 May 2009 08:39 (sixteen years ago)

That's the plot of an episode of Sledgehammer!, isn't it?

― dada wouldn't buy me a bauhaus (aldo), Wednesday, 13 May 2009 08:48 (sixteen years ago)

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