if you were there when charlotte fosgate died (on may 2nd, 2025), what would you do? NOT being insensitive, by the way.
i would pretty much tell charlotte that life is worth it, and that everything is gonna be okay.
the reason why i asked this question is because i think someone should've saved charlotte when she died that day. seriously!
Erika3sis [she/her, xe/xem] - 4w
You might want to edit this post's title to include a content warning for suicide.
As for my own answer… I can only assume that most everybody would like to think that they would do exactly that — save the suicidal — but whether they actually would do it is another question. Because there's a reason why people like Kevin Briggs, Don Ritchie, Yukio Shige, and Chen Si stand out to us so much and earn titles like "guardian angel", because every day cars drive by some number of people on bridges who will within minutes no longer be alive, or people walking by will catch a distant glimpse of somebody staring at the waters below and reckon that the stare "probably means nothing" when most of the time the people reflecting on how far down the waters are don't actually plan on jumping.
It is hard to learn the gait and the eyes of someone taking their last steps, and if you can't recognize that gait and those eyes, then the only way you could really know that someone was about to jump is if they're already climbing or have climbed over the railing — and at that point, will you be able to notice, run up to the person and physically pull them back before it's too late? And will your words actually be enough? Is it easier to live with yourself if you tried to stop a suicide and failed, or if you didn't even try at all? What if someone else more capable also tries to stop her, and you'd only interfere? Is the chance of saving a human life worth more than the self-disgust you might feel if you failed or didn't even try? It's a split-second decision, but the voice in your head should always clamor yes, yes, one million times yes, "one life is the world entire" — and yet, a passerby in his car didn't stop and get out or even roll down his window, and a distant observer on foot didn't drop what she was doing to come over.
Again. And again. And again.
—And isn't that so painful to think about? How the world is destroyed each and every day, how many young lives are lost to suicide. But you can feel that pain in your heart, take it and channel it here: Suicide prevention doesn't begin when the suicidal person is about to commit the act, it begins when the suicidal person gets those first tingling thoughts in the back of their mind. So check in on the people you know, even the people who seem "least likely" to commit suicide. Build a culture where people can openly talk about their suicidality. And in the words of the CrimethInc essay "Suicide and Despair", make a world no one will wish to leave.
So all in all, had I been there on that Portland bridge on that fateful day, maybe I would've been able to run over and talk Charlotte Fosgate out of suicide. Or maybe I would've started running over, shouting, and then felt my heart sink and nausea overcome me as she fell to her death anyways. And maybe in that case, the knowledge that I did everything I could've would've been enough to soothe me afterwards, or maybe I would've been driven to despair myself at the idea that I could've done more. Or maybe, rather than running over to her, I would've just thought, "She must just be admiring the view; I'll leave her alone." or even "Somebody else will save her."
—How would I know, really? I wasn't there.
3
DylanMc6 [any, any] - 4w
there, i edited the post title. that said, i'd run to charlotte, tell that life is worth it and then i would ask her to walk with me to home. seriously!
DylanMc6 in main
another question (tw: discussion of suicide)
if you were there when charlotte fosgate died (on may 2nd, 2025), what would you do? NOT being insensitive, by the way.
i would pretty much tell charlotte that life is worth it, and that everything is gonna be okay.
the reason why i asked this question is because i think someone should've saved charlotte when she died that day. seriously!
You might want to edit this post's title to include a content warning for suicide.
As for my own answer… I can only assume that most everybody would like to think that they would do exactly that — save the suicidal — but whether they actually would do it is another question. Because there's a reason why people like Kevin Briggs, Don Ritchie, Yukio Shige, and Chen Si stand out to us so much and earn titles like "guardian angel", because every day cars drive by some number of people on bridges who will within minutes no longer be alive, or people walking by will catch a distant glimpse of somebody staring at the waters below and reckon that the stare "probably means nothing" when most of the time the people reflecting on how far down the waters are don't actually plan on jumping.
It is hard to learn the gait and the eyes of someone taking their last steps, and if you can't recognize that gait and those eyes, then the only way you could really know that someone was about to jump is if they're already climbing or have climbed over the railing — and at that point, will you be able to notice, run up to the person and physically pull them back before it's too late? And will your words actually be enough? Is it easier to live with yourself if you tried to stop a suicide and failed, or if you didn't even try at all? What if someone else more capable also tries to stop her, and you'd only interfere? Is the chance of saving a human life worth more than the self-disgust you might feel if you failed or didn't even try? It's a split-second decision, but the voice in your head should always clamor yes, yes, one million times yes, "one life is the world entire" — and yet, a passerby in his car didn't stop and get out or even roll down his window, and a distant observer on foot didn't drop what she was doing to come over.
Again. And again. And again.
—And isn't that so painful to think about? How the world is destroyed each and every day, how many young lives are lost to suicide. But you can feel that pain in your heart, take it and channel it here: Suicide prevention doesn't begin when the suicidal person is about to commit the act, it begins when the suicidal person gets those first tingling thoughts in the back of their mind. So check in on the people you know, even the people who seem "least likely" to commit suicide. Build a culture where people can openly talk about their suicidality. And in the words of the CrimethInc essay "Suicide and Despair", make a world no one will wish to leave.
So all in all, had I been there on that Portland bridge on that fateful day, maybe I would've been able to run over and talk Charlotte Fosgate out of suicide. Or maybe I would've started running over, shouting, and then felt my heart sink and nausea overcome me as she fell to her death anyways. And maybe in that case, the knowledge that I did everything I could've would've been enough to soothe me afterwards, or maybe I would've been driven to despair myself at the idea that I could've done more. Or maybe, rather than running over to her, I would've just thought, "She must just be admiring the view; I'll leave her alone." or even "Somebody else will save her."
—How would I know, really? I wasn't there.
there, i edited the post title. that said, i'd run to charlotte, tell that life is worth it and then i would ask her to walk with me to home. seriously!