posted on August 29, 2001 11:24:32 AM new
Passing motorists, Metro bus passengers and truck drivers hurled insults and urged a distraught woman to jump from her perch on the railing of the Interstate 5 Ship Canal Bridge Tuesday morning.
Police rushed to the scene to try to talk the 26-year-old Tacoma-area woman out of attempting suicide. But as the region's busiest freeway disintegrated into a massive traffic jam, the mood of some commuters grew ugly.
"People were yelling, 'Jump, #*!@, jump!'" Seattle Police Department spokesman Clem Benton said. "Now who wants to hear that in this type of a situation?"
posted on August 29, 2001 11:36:58 AM new
The behavior of some of the commuters is incredibly disgusting but I can't find the words to express adequately how I feel about the radio station that presented it as a source of amusement.
posted on August 29, 2001 11:49:14 AM newAntiquary: Morning radio has become one of the most trash-filled, tasteless areas you can think of. This was not particularly surprising on their part, therefore.
posted on August 29, 2001 11:52:06 AM new
How so terribly sad for both the woman and the lost souls who thought that encouraging her was something that they should do....
As for the radio station, shock sells....We had a similiar incident in NY last week. A man called the radio station claiming that he had downed a bunch of pills & alcohol. Although the DJs claimed that those types are calls are not uncommon as pranks, they did contact the police & quickly ran a contest for the first NYers who could get to the scene to help the guy out. The following day the guy called back, relating his experience from the previous day after he was "off the air".....Not too bad, but the reason for his attempt was his breakup with his girlfriend. The DJ's were doin' ok, UNTIL the played a "special" song for him "She's Gone"....The guy sounded ok thru the whole discussion, UNTIL the song was played...Sad...Very Sad....
posted on August 29, 2001 11:59:55 AM new
Hmmmm! That's interesting, bunnicula. I seldom listen to the radio and was unaware such "entertainment" had become so popular. Yes, it's pretty sick.
posted on August 29, 2001 12:03:51 PM newAntiquary: I rarely listen in myself unless I am driving in someone else's car of a morning and they are tuned to a "popular" station that indulges in this sort of thing. What little I do hear insures that I continue not to listen in the morning. Waste of time and gray cells.
posted on August 29, 2001 12:04:09 PM new
That type of radio is often targetted (sp?) for the rush hour around here. Think it could contribute toward road rage or the dehumanization illustrated in the above article?
posted on August 29, 2001 12:05:21 PM new
Same thing happened to my husband when the van broke down on one of the big Boston bridges. He was walking along the side, trying to get to a motorist's aid call box, and heard many calls for him to jump. Boston motorists are notoriously vicious, but this was way back in the late 70's, if you can believe it. Imagine how it is now, in the City?
I think we've become rather a voyeuristic society. Look at the great popularity of the "reality" shows, like Survivor. Maybe that Seattle event didn't seem real to some...just another bit of entertainment?
posted on August 29, 2001 12:06:56 PM new
Such mean and evil mass behavior is unbelievable! I suppose stress related agressive driving aggravated by the irresponsible radio station may be a precipitating event but I just cannot understand this kind of evil behavior.
posted on August 29, 2001 02:46:20 PM new
Nothing's real to people anymore. Everything's a movie. The people yelling "jump" knew they wouldn't be the ones combing the river looking for the body. They figured it wouldn't be their sister or wife or daughter who didn't come home that night. This was just a stranger. Some nonperson. Someone who wasn't real to them. As meaningless as a character in a movie or a music video. So they yelled. And if they'd actually seen her go off the bridge, all the better. They'd have a story to tell at work or over beers that night as listeners uttered "oh wow," or "that's cool."
All in all, I don't find what happened all that unusual. In some ways I think it's disingenuous of the newspaper to present the story as a shocking singularity. Heck, when a fight breaks out, people stand around grinning, yelling"hit him, hit him!" and nobody thinks it's odd. Why is this so different? Life has always been one big Jerry Springer show, with an audience full of people shouting "Jerry! Jerry! Jerry!" as lives are being destroyed on the stage.
posted on August 29, 2001 02:57:22 PM new
I'm afraid you're right, Spaz. Especially, in that it's not a recent phenomenon at all. The Romans had their gladiatorial games, quite some little time ago. Perhaps we're just shocked because in these PC times, we're used to people faking empathy?
posted on August 29, 2001 03:07:28 PM new
I'm not thoroughly jaded, toke. There are some empathetic people out there. They are few and far between and rarely catch anyone's attention, possibly because they don't yell things out the window.
posted on August 29, 2001 03:25:18 PM new
Its the mentality of this town. It wasn't always like this.
People do this when people are standing near the Aurorah bridge (George Washington Memorial Bridge) everyday, not people who are there to jump off, but anyone, they'll yell out there window 'Jump!'
This town is getting too depressing and the people here are not that nice, as they once were.
I hate going downtown any longer, but I absolutely have to, and a lot.
posted on August 29, 2001 03:59:11 PM new
NearTheSea...
I lived there, on Lake Union, when my husband and I were first married. It was a wonderful place, save for the constant grey skies. My sweetie likes rain though, so he loved it.
The thing is, it wasn't congested then. The last time I was there I couldn't believe the traffic...almost as bad as Boston. When you cram so many people together...all fighting desperately to get someplace, it just has to cause ill temper and bad dispositions. I don't think humans were genetically programmed to live like ants in a hill.
posted on August 29, 2001 05:16:33 PM new
I would like to think that the majority of the commuters recognized this poor woman's cry for help. Why else would she have picked a rush hour to commit suicide?
It's sad that the taunts of the sick minority could very well have been the last words she ever heard before death.
I hope she gets help and is able to live a mentally healthy life.
posted on August 29, 2001 05:59:51 PM new
toke -it is/was a great place. (Lake Union is really cool! )
I was talking to someone about this when it happened, there IS a lot more road rage to go along with the traffic. He called it the 'Microsoft Mentality'. I dunno... a lot of the younger people, have to have the new cars, have to drive, and they have enough metro buses, they were planning on a commuter train, I don't know what happened to that.
I was just with my 19 year old daughter, I don't think I will drive with her again... she started flipping off people, this is MY kid. I wanted to strangle her. We were on I-5 and stop and go, and just now, had to swerve, a car rearended someone, he was talking on his cell phone, you look everywhere, they are on those things.
People are selfish, and getting worse.
I cannot beleive (or maybe I do) that the radio was using this as entertainment.
I think I want to live in a small town, Mayberry, wherever that is.
Perhaps we're just shocked because in these PC times, we're used to people faking empathy? 
