Usually I find your posts very informative and thought provoking and enjoy the difference of thought and opinion you bring to bear on issues. But in this case I must disagree about my being callous, (I will let Jason speak for himself) I believe the man jumping was a callous individual as he was willing to abandon his family over money.

I ask you as a parent (I believe you are, correct?) how callous would it be for you to kill yourself when your children were 7 (as in Jason’s case) and abandon them and leave them to life’s harsh winds without the support and guidance of a father? In my mind it would be you that would be callous if you were to condone such action.

Compassion has its limitations. I personally would rather have someone kick my a** and tell me to get over what is bothering me and to move on with my life than have someone show me compassion. Certainly we all need a shoulder to cry on once in awhile but too much compassion is making excuses for bad behaviour.

Don’t have a job go buy a couple of packs of hot dogs and sell them or cut lawns. Your wife left you – go find another one. Feel depressed go split a chord of wood or run a couple of miles or go volunteer at your local hospital and see people with real problems.

Too much compassion is what is wrong with our society. Lai Jiansheng did the right thing and probably saved that mans life, he has the right kind of compassion.

How are those sentiments cynical? Seems to me I think the guy has the ability to overcome his problems and move on with his life. I see him as a man with a temporary life setback. Who is more cynical?

Yeah, the motorist may be sort of an a_ _-hole for pushing this guy, but it was pretty clear from the video he was pushing him to the relative safety of the air mattress. I say give the old man a pass on this one. And man-oh-man, excellent monkey-like climbing skills from a guy in his fifties (sixties?)

I beg to differ. The motorist who felt he and his schedule and/or lack of patience or concern for others were more important than the plight of a depressed, confused and to an extent, mentally diminished person is by far the more selfish one. I guess you have a right to your opinion regardless of how misguided or callous, but I certainly hope your cynicism does not reflect the majority of Americans’ reaction. Your reactions seem to better represent the “me first” attitude fostered over the last 30 years and not the era of compassion I believe and hope we’ve recently entered.

You went and got help and did not do it, that took balls.

And that is my point. Life is rarely bad enough for someone to take their own life, it is their perception of their lives. Rarely is life so bad (at least in this country)that suicide is the answer.

Bron98

Having worked with numerous depressed people while I was in grad school, I find it amusing that anyone would be so ill-informed as to call suicidal people “selfish cowards.”
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As an attorney that suffered with depression that was undiagnosed and thought that suicide was the answer and took steps and 2 final acts, I guess you could call me a selfish coward. I have learned to accept this and have taken positive steps. So for all of you people that suffer from depression and guilt from your depression. We are nothing more than selfish cowards. I invite everyone to comment on this but Patty C or Patty C.

I think Bron98 is correct, my father shot himself when I was 7, he had some issues but nothing that could not have been overcome.

I find it amusing that you can comment from a stand point of grad school probably having no close personal connection to anyone that has killed themselves.

Suicide does nothing and the people that do it are not thinking about the other people in their lives. It is a very selfish act and it is the ultimate in reality avoidance, therefore it is cowardly.

I qualify this however by saying that if I had a terminal disease with no hope of a cure and was in great pain I would not prolong my agony or those close to me. In this regard I do not see it as either selfish or cowardly and would not condemn a person for acting in such a manor at such a time.

Let me know how you feel about suicide when someone you love kills themselves and it is no longer academic. Hopefully it will never happen to you.

Having worked with numerous depressed people while I was in grad school, I find it amusing that anyone would be so ill-informed as to call suicidal people “selfish cowards.”

People that kill themselves are usually selfish cowards. Hopefully the man will pull himself together and take care of his problem.