Comments by santabarbarasand
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Posted on October 9 at 8:01 p.m.
Kratatoa.... or how about the Granada parking garage? Or the courthouse tower? Or Shoreline? Wilcox Property... etc etc.
I wish I had time to have a cause like the "fact" pasters up above... but I don't. Every few months I get up San Marcos Pass though and that view when you first get on the bridge takes me to a special place that helps to relieve my stress. Dad's favorite view and having just lost him last year, I would hate to also lose that view.
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Posted on October 9 at 6:50 a.m.
I think that we should make the train tracks safer... and the Wilcox Preserve and let's not forget that the top of all tall buildings and parking structures downtown also pose a risk for jumpers, like the one that jumped recently off the Granada parking garage... he was just a baby. The train tracks are probably THE most dangerous... how many deaths by train this year folks? Suicide & accidental... and yet the folks who are freaking out about the bridge don't have a thing to say about the trian deaths. Don't you think it costs a lot of money? The conductor is traumatized because they see it coming and can't prevent it... the people on the train are delayed and made late for wherever they are going, some on their way to work, some on their way to meet up with a connection that the delay makes them miss and is costly, others are traumatized... trains are FAR more deadly to people than the bridge is. Bridges don't kill people, people kill themselves. I suppose same goes for trains ...
Now what baffles me about the latest jumper is that she was clearly disabled and it sounds like she had to go through a huge effort to jump. How could nobody have seen that? How could nobody have stopped her? Did anyone even try? People pretty much ALWAYS see the jumper off the bridge, it is a well traveled road. That kind of freaks me out....
The article states that there have been 37 suicides this year, 5 from the bridge... that's 32, that we know of, that chose other ways to do it. Keep in mind that there are probably several people who OD'd on drugs and aren't being counted because it is hard to know if they OD'd intentionally or accidentally. Oh I suppose that some it would be obvious. What about them? Get off the bridge, start a suicide prevention group locally... because the tragedy has NOTHING to do with a bridge and all to do with people.
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Posted on October 8 at 7:06 a.m.
Suicide will happen... and the bridge has NOTHING to do with it. This story really illustrates that people who have decided to die will do it. It sickens me that someone dove head first off the Granada parking garage, how much more public and traumatic can you get? I feel sad for anyone that was exposed to that idiot!
The economy is rough right now and not many people aren't effected, especially now that the credit card companies are hiking interest rates for even those that have never paid late or gone over their limit. Not just that but they are reducing available credit for card payers, thereby reducing their credit rating AND making it harder for them to stay below the limit with the new interest rates. It IS depressing, especially if you were financially good a few years ago and now you are suddenly, and without changing your spending habits, in debt up to your ears. Sound familiar? Not to mention there aren't many jobs.... certainly doesn't help that locals are hiring people from OUT OF TOWN to do work for them, like build houses.... even the city is doing that, hiring NON locals for city projects. It is disgusting. Makes me feel like jumping too! But I won't do it...
The problem is not the bridge, suicide happens when people have had more than they can handle. Again, this story really illustrates the various ways that people are ending their lives. Unfortunately they don't have the statistics about OD's because I imagine that the number would be MUCH higher... overdose is the least scary and least messy way to go.
Posted on October 7 at 6:43 p.m.
This was a great concert and Kenny's voice and Jimmy's playing were perfect! I love how they had the members of the group play solos and was especially thrilled at the little duel / duo between Jimmy and the violinist. When Kenny sang Georgia I think we all had goosebumps!
Only thing that bummed me out was how rude some people were... my water bottle rolled under the bleacher in front of me and when I asked if the person sitting there could grab it for me the guy she was with got in my face and said "sit down, we're tryin to listen to music here!" wow... super rude and I was surprised that someone at such a mellow concert could be such a jerk. However, there is simply no way that someone can ruin Kenny for me.
Posted on October 3 at 8:48 a.m.
Sorry for the grammar shot, it was rude of me. However, if you know how to use a computer well enough to post a message I guess I expect that you know how to type up messages first in word and do a spell check if you have issues with spelling. Unfortunately, for many of us I'm sure, when there are that many incorrectly spelled words in a blog it is hard to get past it to see what is written underneath.
Regardless, I disagree with the post. Statistics in many large cities have shown that if you create positive and safe places for youth to hang out then they WILL hang out in those places. Not all of them but boredom often leads to criminal behavior. When a young child gets into something they aren't supposed to and you ask why they did it, often the answer is "I was bored, I had nothing else to do..." so to avoid that, parents of young kids usually find ways to keep them busy and engaged. These gang members ARE young kids... and they need some encouragement and nurturing that may not come from home so it has to come from the community. And it has to come young, before they hit the age when they typically start to engage in gang activity. Some of these kids are as young as 12... so it needs to start to be targetted in kindergarten folks!
Some cities have dance instructors that come in and teach hip hop or crumping... and let them "battle" with dance contests. Others use sports... others use art...what can we use? Besides Juvi and jail...
Posted on October 2 at 6:50 a.m.
I agree with all of you... this is not a simple topic because we do need to think about how it would feel had that been someone we were close to. When I say not easy I don't mean the bridge, I mean suicide and the prevention of it, not the means that people choose to take.
I recently watched my father die a slow, humiliating and painful death from ALS and let me tell you, he spoke early on about suicide because he was interested in choosing how he would die and knew later he would be immobile and unable to do anything. He chose not to kill himself so that he could enjoy more time with his family but in the latter part of his disease, I wonder if he felt differently...
I believe if someone really wants to die bad enough they will find a way. If there is a barrier and they want to jump off the bridge, they will go around it or climb over it. They say that those few extra minutes may make them change their mind but consider already the length of time it takes to get to the bridge - do you really think two more minutes will change things? No way.
Maybe if I was a first responder who had to clean up the carnage I would feel differently. My Dad was a paramedic and was called there once to clean up after a jumper and it was horrific.
Posted on October 1 at 8:52 p.m.
If there was a barrier he would have done it somewhere else. A barrier won't prevent suicide. Let the debate begin...
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Posted on October 1 at 8:48 p.m.
MyVoice, you need to stay in school... and learn to write. We DO need places to keep these kids busy, we need classes to teach their parents to be parents while they are young, before they turn to gangs and we need the police to continue to crack down hard on them and try to prevent them from having any type of control out on the streets. The school being locked down WAS harsh but imagine how awful it would have been if someone, or more than one person, had been shot there today. I hope that we hear that the person with the gun was caught and I hope that any kid at school that had a weapon has been locked up. It's not about the cops learning, it's about these stupid gang members learning that life is short and they should find better ways to spend their time! Like by getting an education for example...
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Posted on September 16 at 7:10 a.m.
I agree with you, I was there on time, in fact to great effort to be there on time, and the late comers kept making us get up. We also had to get up for the people who wanted to go get a beer every half hour and the lady next to me proceeded to get drunk and talk my ear off while I was trying to listen to the performances! Then there were the people behind us who were yelling at each other and the ones that stole other people's seats. In fact, there were a lot of people in wrong seats or who would take people's seats when they did go to get their umpteenth beer so when they came back there were arguments. It's just rude! Fortunately the concert was good regardless and Bonnie was a kick! :)
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Posted on November 14 at 9:11 a.m.
Wow, again some people have too much time on their hands! Children have always climbed those hills. I have to admit that once I was there when a young boy fell and landed on the rocks below, I was a child myself, I don't think he survived. That was on the cliffs directly underneath the Douglas Preserve side... and steeper I think than the area in question.
I would think that if none of the parents were concerned, which is a miracle with how protective we are of our children, then the case should have ended there.
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