I had a lunch appointment today with a client who was recently appointed to a supervisory position. I was a few minutes late and was ready to apologize when I realized he hadn't arrived at the restaurant either. My plan was to get better acquainted with him and discuss the responsibilities of his new position.
Then I got a call from him. On the drive from his house, a few blocks from the restaurant, he passed a car parked at the side of the street with a man sitting in it with his head slumped against the driver's side window. As he passed the car he felt there was something strange about the man's posture. Like maybe he was sick or having medical issues.
So he made a U-turn, walked across the street to the car and rapped on the window. There was no response from the man and when he took a closer look he saw a pistol in the man's hand and realized that he'd committed suicide. He then called the police. I met him at the scene and from there we went to lunch.
Had he not stopped to investigate it's no telling how long the man would have been there before he was found. The police said the man had been reported missing the night before and his family was concerned.
To me, that's what's terrible about suicide, which is reportedly the seventh leading cause of death in this country. Those who kill themselves are not concerned about those left behind, those who loved them. They only want to get rid of their own pain. They don't think about those who spent time and money educating and raising them to adulthood. It's only about their own pain and so they self-centeredly take the easy way out.
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