Canada Day Traffic Chaos Takes Over Vancouver

[Yume-sama]

Originally Posted by David

Wasn't Falcon also the one who decided that a review on Vancouver's taxis was ABSOLUTELY REQUIRED only after *HE* couldn't get a taxi home one night?

Selfish...

This is why public transportation in Canada is usually so poorly thought out. There is not any way the people who make the decisions will actually USE it... but ohhhh if they ever did!

[Punkster]

there was someone, I can't remember where, where a person was threatening to jump off a bridge and the police did the same thing and closed the bridge but the line up was full of people honking their horns and yelling at the person to just jump so they could get thru. It was all over the news

[crazyjoeda]

I'm not insensitive, but there must be a better way to deal with people threatening to jump off a bridge.

[mr.x]

Some of you are incredibly insensitive.

A few years ago, at my old high-school, a grade 12 student committed suicide and it basically put a halt to everything in the school year. The kid was very athletic, intelligent, and sociable....nobody expected it from him. On the night he killed himself, he tried to call his best friend but his friend's mom didn't let him talk because it was too late. Who knows, that talk may have changed what he later did......he drove his dad's car in the middle of night to a parking lot in the middle of nowhere, and lit the car on fire with him in it.

18-months ago, I contemplated suicide myself but thanks to my school counsellors and friends, I didn't. And right now, I'm holding on for dear life - I want to live. This HIV scare has given me a huge new appreciation for my life and what I have.....and if I don't have this virus, then I'll promise that for the rest of my life I will never ever turn back into the way I was before.

[Nutterbug]

Originally Posted by mr.x2

Some of you are incredibly insensitive.

I think it has more to do with accepting that the person in question has a reason for wanting to check out and that they understand the situation better than anyone else who'll pass judgement for or try to interfere with their decision. Can you blame a person who's a cripple confined to a wheelchair for the rest of their life in constant pain throughout their entire body for wanting to go?

Besides, any way you slice it, a person no matter how troubled or distraught, has absolutely no right whatsoever to bring an entire city's major arterial road to a halt for several hours their own personal problems.

[deasine]

Originally Posted by mr.x2

Some of you are incredibly insensitive.

A few years ago, at my old high-school, a grade 12 student committed suicide and it basically put a halt to everything in the school year. The kid was very athletic, intelligent, and sociable....nobody expected it from him. On the night he killed himself, he tried to call his best friend but his friend's mom didn't let him talk because it was too late. Who knows, that talk may have changed what he later did......he drove his dad's car in the middle of night to a parking lot in the middle of nowhere, and lit the car on fire with him in it.

18-months ago, I contemplated suicide myself but thanks to my school counsellors and friends, I didn't. And right now, I'm holding on for dear life - I want to live. This HIV scare has given me a huge new appreciation for my life and what I have.....and if I don't have this virus, then I'll promise that for the rest of my life I will never ever turn back into the way I was before.

I would be with you on this one but I still don't know why the police had to literally close the bridge down. I'm pretty sure she didn't say something like "I'll jump if the bridge doesn't close now!"

Now I'm not saying I don't feel sorry for these people, but I would really prefer if you did want to attempt suicide, please do it where it affects the least number of people. It's just like jumping onto the SkyTrain tracks, that's like shutting down most of the system. On the other hand, I know how it feels when you do want to kill yourself (yes I've considered it but backed away); feelings of "isolation and "coldness", this feeling that you are worthless in society and\ leaving the world will make no difference anyways..." But see that's the problem: people don't realize that "suicide" is the answer to your problems. Suicide is simply a selfish act, leaving your problems for other to figure out: and that's not the answer. Thank god Mr.X that you decided to seek for help. It's incredibly hard to put your life back in the tracks; and asking others for help, discussing with other people, makes it a lot easier.

[mr.x]

Originally Posted by deasine

I would be with you on this one but I still don't know why the police had to literally close the bridge down. I'm pretty sure she didn't say something like "I'll jump if the bridge doesn't close now!"

Now I'm not saying I don't feel sorry for these people, but I would really prefer if you did want to attempt suicide, please do it where it affects the least number of people. It's just like jumping onto the SkyTrain tracks, that's like shutting down most of the system. On the other hand, I know how it feels when you do want to kill yourself (yes I've considered it but backed away); feelings of "isolation and "coldness", this feeling that you are worthless in society and\ leaving the world will make no difference anyways..." But see that's the problem: people don't realize that "suicide" is the answer to your problems. Suicide is simply a selfish act, leaving your problems for other to figure out: and that's not the answer. Thank god Mr.X that you decided to seek for help. It's incredibly hard to put your life back in the tracks; and asking others for help, discussing with other people, makes it a lot easier.

Not that i'm an expert, but i think those who jump from bridges want attention as they haven't had that in their lives or that they have problems that nobody has helped them with.

I read somewhere awhile ago that 40% of teenage suicides are by homosexuals.

As for what happened to me, I wrote a bunch of suicide notes and accidentally sent them early without realizing that.....my friends got them, tricked me the next day into seeing the school counsellor (they told me there was something wrong with the school event we were planning for)....and it went from there.

Just for the record, if i were to kill myself i'd do it by sleeping pills and/or a bottle of vodka at like midnight with my bedroom door locked.

[Hong Kongese]

Originally Posted by mr.x2

Some of you are incredibly insensitive.


18-months ago, I contemplated suicide myself but thanks to my school counsellors and friends, I didn't. And right now, I'm holding on for dear life - I want to live. This HIV scare has given me a huge new appreciation for my life and what I have.....and if I don't have this virus, then I'll promise that for the rest of my life I will never ever turn back into the way I was before.

I can guarantee that you don't have the virus!

[mr.x]

Damn 40-metre platforms.

[Nutterbug]

Originally Posted by mr.x2

Just for the record, if i were to kill myself i'd do it by sleeping pills and/or a bottle of vodka at like midnight with my bedroom door locked.

...which probably won't work, and just leave you with badly damaged organs.

[mr.x]

Originally Posted by Nutterbug

...which probably won't work, and just leave you with badly damaged organs.

an entire bottle of pills and a bottle of vodka?

[Hong Kongese]

Originally Posted by mr.x2

.

Just for the record, if i were to kill myself i'd do it by sleeping pills and/or a bottle of vodka at like midnight with my bedroom door locked.

I could never be able to kill myself, I would be too chicken to do it!

[204]

Originally Posted by Yume-sama

This is why public transportation in Canada is usually so poorly thought out.

This is why? I don't believe Canada is particularily worse than anywhere else. Say Bangui or Brazzaville. Man, you love the place huh?

[Nutterbug]

Originally Posted by mr.x2

an entire bottle of pills and a bottle of vodka?

Good luck in getting Nembutal.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide...rug_overdosing

[deasine]

Originally Posted by mr.x2

Not that i'm an expert, but i think those who jump from bridges want attention as they haven't had that in their lives or that they have problems that nobody has helped them with.

That's exactly what they want, and quite frankly, exactly what these people need. If stopping Vancouver to a halt is their way, then fine I'm fine with that. Yes I'm mad, but then I can put myself in the other's shoes. But the problem in this particular situation, i'm sure the police didn't HAVE to close the entire bridge. They could've closed half the bridge, using the other half for moving traffic. Sure it's a slow-go, but at least we are moving.

I'm going to wait patientially for Faclon and Vancouver Police's report and see from there.

[Nutterbug]

Originally Posted by deasine

That's exactly what they want, and quite frankly, exactly what these people need. If stopping Vancouver to a halt is their way, then fine I'm fine with that. Yes I'm mad, but then I can put myself in the other's shoes. But the problem in this particular situation, i'm sure the police didn't HAVE to close the entire bridge. They could've closed half the bridge, using the other half for moving traffic. Sure it's a slow-go, but at least we are moving.

I'm going to wait patientially for Faclon and Vancouver Police's report and see from there.

What if everybody who ever became suicidal or sought attention used this very disruptive ploy?

There is a possibility that other people's lives could be severely adversely affected (eg. losing their jobs) and other emergencies could be caused by one person's act of extremely inconsiderate selfishness like this.

[deasine]

Originally Posted by Nutterbug

What if everybody who ever became suicidal or sought attention used this very disruptive ploy?

There is a possibility that other people's lives could be severely adversely affected (eg. losing their jobs) and other emergencies could be caused by one person's act of extremely inconsiderate selfishness like this.

Yes true. But vice versa, could it be selfish for you to say such a thing like that? I would say so... [I'm just saying...] Did the review by the Provincial Gov't only start because Kevin Falcon was one of those stuck in traffic? Could this be considered selfish? Perhaps.

If we try to look from another viewpoint, we may see this in a completely new way. At the moment, I'm not blamming it on the person who wanted to jump off; I'm putting the police at fault. Again, I'm waiting for both reviews to tell me the full story (or a better one). We will never know everything about this. Of course, I wouldn't want to see a suicide everyday, which is why I said earlier I prefer people to find alternate methods that effect as few ppl as possible.

[Nutterbug]

Originally Posted by deasine

Yes true. But vice versa, could it be selfish for you to say such a thing like that? I would say so... [I'm just saying...] Did the review by the Provincial Gov't only start because Kevin Falcon was one of those stuck in traffic? Could this be considered selfish? Perhaps.

Or it got him to truly understand the impact of the situation in a way that just reading about it or watching it on the news wouldn't have.

[GMasterAres]

They close the bridge down for several reasons. Sometimes a jumper is doing so for attention so by closing the bridge you remove that attention. It also allows the Police to have a buffer zone away from them to keep space.

The more space between the police stationed and negotiator(s), the more at ease the jumper will be. Remember this isn't the movies, there is nobody under the bridge with a giant net.

Third, it helps with negotiation since there is no traffic and thus the noise is at a minimum. It's a much more calming situation for both the jumper and the police. I know some people are saying "Let the person jump" but I was taught by my parents that all life should be respected and that it's the job of the police to serve and protect. Sometimes they are protecting us from ourselves.

The selfish people are the people that don't want the bridge closed because they were slightly inconvenienced. The selfish people are those saying build a third bridge so I can go around that jumper and continue with my clearly extremely important life. All the problems we're seeing in Vancouver these days aren't due to an increase of population, a lack of bike lanes, a lack of transit, or bad politicians. All the problems are a result of US being too damned impatient with everything that we forget to stop and smell the roses as cliché as that saying is, and enjoy the fact that we're not in a position in life where we are even contemplating jumping to our deaths off a bridge.

That's just my opinion though.

I think it is kind of sad that 1 bridge closing DOES gridlock an entire city. I thought it was frustrating when they closed down part of KGH and Fraser Highway many months back and it took me 2 hours to get home in Fleetwood from Central Surrey. Then I found out people were shot and 2 innocent people were dead in a gang shooting which is why I was so very innconvenienced, and suddenly that extra 1 hour 45 minutes added to my commute didn't see quite so bad.

[Nutterbug]

The world and the economy would not progress if we all stopped for everybody who threatened to kill themself. We would be robbed of our own lives through the time we could have spent in living it in a more meaningful and fulfilling way.

Let's just look at it like this:

Suicide = Darwin at work