CTA Tattler

that's right by my house. i was going home and saw a bunch of ambulances and the street was closed off...and i thought.. well, i can pretty much guess what happened.

some people were around later and i said..i read this blog called the cta tattler, and i bet someone jumped...i wouldn't have known how often this happens, but at least once a month. they were shocked. i said, yeah, they don't really publicize it, but..

so, thanks (??) for the confirm.

I was waiting for the train at Berwyn when it happened. The customer service rep suggested that everyone transfer to the 36 Broadway bus as trains wouldn't be running for awhile. She could only tell us that some kind of "incident" had shut down the Bryn Mawr station.

Most of us speculated that someone must have jumped before the train. Again. In the sweltering heat we complained about the delay and cursed the unknown victim for holding everyone up.

Now that a suicide has been more or less confirmed, I realize how short sighted and selfish our comments were. Though mass transit allows for much closer contact with other people, I'm afraid it doesn't allow for much in the way of empathy.

Shortsighted my ass. If you want to kill yourself, go right ahead. Be my guest. Do it in a less selfish way than inconveniencing thousands of people who have every right to go about their day, including going to work and picking up their kids, because you're having a really bad day. If you want to jump in front of a train, take this advice from a native New Yorker: do it on the OFF-PEAK tracks.

While it's sad...I have more empathy for the poor driver of the train, who has nothing at all to do with the person who commits suicide, but become the person who has to live with the fact that they were the person who was driving the train that killed them, and got to see the whole thing. Or even the people who are standing on the platform who have the misfortune of witnessing it.

yeah, aeryn...that's always one of my first thoughts, too. the driver.

this has been so re-hashed here. but as someone who lost someone to this kind of suicide on easter sunday, and who is just really in a bad spot these days --- oh. whatever. it's not worth getting into a pissing match.

but i will say this. people don't kill themselves because they're having a 'really bad day.' for fuck's sake.

I always think about the driver and how shaken up they must have been. If it was me driving, I'd probably have to quit my job.

I'm very conflicted on this issue. I mean, I truly understand the suicidal impulse. (I'm not saying why.) Of course, I feel awful for the dead person. But I also ride the train every day, twice a day, and I know how frustrating it is to have all your plans messed up because someone decided to off themselves in public. But anyone who thinks that is just considered "heartless." It's frustrating and sad for everyone around. I do agree that the driver is the true victim, though. The driver has no choice in the matter.

No matter how you look at this much-discussed issue, I maintain the opinion that people like Mike (above) are callous jerks.

if you're going to do it, jump in front of a metra train. At least those guys know they have no chance of stopping in time.

We had a guy on the tracks (I ride with the evil empire -- better AM reception going home to Evanston) last Tuesday at the Rogers Park stop, and I was in the vestibule while the conductor tried to help the engineer calm down. Not fun.

This guy wasn't even a jumper, just a moron trying to catch the train from the wrong side.

I realize that it is a sad event, and very troubling for everyone who is involved. I do not support suicide in any form. But if you must, please do not interrupt the day for thousands of people who have places to go and things to do. Better yet, get help for your problems.

" This guy wasn't even a jumper, just a moron trying to catch the train from the wrong side."

I hate those people. I catch the Brown Line at one of the ground-level stops, and see at least one person a week almost get smacked because they run under the gate to catch that train that's ALREADY PULLING OUT OF THE STATION!!! MORONS!!! Or a car pull around the gate and almost get hit. Recently I was standing between tracks waiting for two trains to clear and some idiot in an SUV almost got it. If they had, I'm sure the car would have taken all of us standing there with him

Sorry about the shouting, but I don't want to witness the culling of the herd.

I used to witness the same shenanigans at Rockwell when I lived over there. I saw a woman carrying a baby duck under the gate once! The city needs to start arresting people or handing out $500 fines. It amazes me that a city that so efficiently gouges the hell out of the taxpayers (the orange sign street cleaning revenue generation scam is a perfect example) doesn't fine the hell out of people who unlawfully create chaos by dodging trains, jaywalking, etc. Guess that'd require more work than stringing up paper signs or sending cruisers down every block on the first of the month. Argh.

What gets me is the extreme care they take in removing the definitely very dead body. This causes hours of delays. If it's stuck under the wheels, just run the train over it until the wheels are clear. It's already mauled beyond belief. If it's not stuck, then just pull it out. I realize the power has to be cut for the safety of the recovery personell, but get it back on as soon as possible.
Are my comments nasty and unfeeling?
Maybe, but earlier this year, there was a suicide at a friend's building. I didn't believe anyone when they told me a guy hanged himself upstairs on the back porch and they were waiting for the cops to show up. So I walked up and there he was. Now I didn't discover him, but if I had I would have cut him down on the possibility of him still being alive.
The cops left him up there to swing in the wind for 3 hours, until the dicks finished with the investigation.

I don't know, Jeff. That does sound really awful when you put it like that, talking about a mauled body and whatnot. But I do wonder the same thing about it taking so long. I honestly feel for the people who jump, but I also know that I either want to get to work on time or go home and spend time with the people I love. But as I type this, I can't help but feel like an awful person.

I wish some pious bleeding heart like m could write something to convince me that this isn't a horribly selfish way to go out.

"Let's see, how can I off myself while causing the absolute most damage possible to others? I want to make sure that I give a CTA driver nightmares for the rest of their lives, possibly ending their career, and I want to make sure that I bring transportation for people that depend on public transportation in America's third largest city to a screetching halt for hours. It would also be good if I made the coroner ill with the sight of my mangled corpse, and tie up emergency services for a while. I know! I'll jump in front of a CTA train!"

The only thing worse would be if they covered themselves in dynamite and blew themselves up in a crowd.

Declaring what someone elses motivation was is simply a look into your own mind, and stating what motivates you. Unfortunately, the world isn't that simple. When you believe that people are being motivated by selfishness without knowing anything about those people, you are simply telling us that you are a selfish person.

Of course I'm wasting my breath here. Selfish people aren't going to consider that their self-centric position isn't shared by everyone else. They will continue to be pig-headed, self-centered, selfish people, and they will continue to believe that their mindset is the default for others as well.

Warren-- Reading what happens to the people that have to live with running a train into these jumpers (see the articles about how people get messed up from it) makes me think they're selfish. It's not just the drivers-- witnesses and passengers are traumatized. Have some small, tiny regard for the people that have been victimized by their actions. Have some regard for the people that can't work at their job anymore because somebody deliberately sought to traumatize them as they took their own life. I think it's the height of selfishness to deliberately and knowingly cause psychological trauma to others. How is that action not unlike a suicide bomber? It's terrorism.

Maybe if people like you wouldn't enable this kind of behavior there would be a few more of these people seeking treatment.

This has nothing to do with the victims left behind. This has to deal with the motivation of the person who took their own life, and the fact that some people can't understand that their motivation could have been anything other than selfishness.

But if the only thing you know is selfishness, you'll never understand.

So, e_five, anyone who disagrees with the following is a pious bleeding heart?

"Shortsighted my ass. If you want to kill yourself, go right ahead. Be my guest."

Well, 'kumbaya' then.

I didn't say I thought their motives would be selfishness. I DON'T CARE what their motives are. A suicide in front of an L train that screws up my day is someone who has now made his problems my problems, and no one has a right to do that. The person jumping in front of that train doesn't care what the repercussions are going to be for other people, so why should I care about him?

hey, hey, hey....lets all get back to the point. A person was ill, and decided that ending their life would be better for the world. There are thousands of people walking around feeling this way and need serious help. Our 30-45 minute delay in our daily life will not compare to the loss of the family, the years of counseling for family members and the conductor and everybody who was touched by this person. When you lose a loved one in a tragic accident or event the time and money that you lost becomes irrelavant.

Me, broken record...I know. If you've ever lost someone to suicide, you understand that this person is in a headspace that is alien to any normal way of thinking. It is a very self-involved thing to do, but that's kind of the point...those who are truly suicidal are unable to get outside of the little bubble of pain that surrounds them.

One of the most considerate people I've ever known in my life shot herself in the head three years ago this summer, and her mother had to find her. In that instant, who knows what she was thinking? Under normal circumstances, she would never have put her mother through that, or the rest of us who loved her for that matter. Under the veil of a deep depression, she did the unthinkable. Just as I'm sure she chose a gun for its efficiency, I'm guessing that those who chose a train to end their lives do it for the same reason...little chance of botching up the plan.

Sure, it sucks when your commute is 2 hours longer than it is supposed to be because some poor soul lost the will to live -- but it sucks a lot more for the family & friends (and the poor train conductor) who are left behind to make sense of it. A little compassion goes a long way, people.

Again, I offer the website www.preventsuicidenow.com for those who are interested in educating themselves on this sad but very real problem.

The delays come from the police treating the trax like a crime scene, and also needing to interview everyone to make sure it's a suicide and not a homicide. If you were pushed by a neighbor, an ex-spouse, or just a mugger, wouldn't you want to make sure justice was done?

2 cents, 2 comments.....

Warren: Thank you for the thoughtful and smart response.

Motivation: I've always been a rather happy person except for one long exceedingly dark period when I finally (and disturbingly) understood depresion. It's overwhelming. For almost a year I felt as though I was living under a pile of heavy wet blankets so suffocating that I could hardly breathe. I learned why (for some) people might choose suicide. It's a complete feeling of no hope. Awful for them and worse for those they leave behind.

Just a thought...
Almost all of us know of someone that has taken their own life. The few that I knew did it in a far less dramatic manner.

Think about what might drive a person to suicide. Like an earlier poster remarked: It's not like they were just having a bad day."

Imagine a life that has been a constant disappointment. One failure after another, no matter how hard you've tried. Being treated unjustly for whatever reason. Feeling as though you have become the world's doormat. Being put on a waiting list for mental-health issues. Whether this is the objective truth or not, its the way that you perceive it. And that is, sorry to say, that's way it is.

I don't know about you, but I'd probably develop a bit of hostility towards the world in general.

People with nothing to lose are some of the most dangerous people in the world. And if you've decided that you can't fight any longer, your exit from this world is the no-holds-barred last chance for justice in the only form of power that you may have left...revenge.

It's ugly for those of us that witness this horrible final moment. But it may be the first and only time that any of us really noticed the victim in their entire lives.

And maybe we, as a society, are being made to pay for it.

Just a word about the need to thoroughly inspect the scene and conduct interviews after something like this happens.

Last year, a friend of my wife lost her son when he was hit by a train while trying to escape onto the tracks after some local thugs started threatening him. In his case, they first thought he was on the tracks for other reasons, but once an investigation was done the real cause came out.

I'm not sure how transparent the chain of events was in this incident on Saturday, but I think it's in the interests of everyone that police know exactly what happened when someone is killed on the CTA.

Bottom line, they're not MY loved one. I have a right to not want, and not be, dragged into their problems, or made to "think about their problem". I really don't care. I have my own problems. Is it a shame someone's dead? Sure. Am I going to lose any sleep over it? No. There's a public safety net out there. Not a great one, but it's there. If someone doesn't want to use it, I refuse to be dragged into paying the consequences. My time, my needs, my problems are not suddenly less important than someone else's just because that person decided to kill themself and now we all have to stop and say "aww" and re-examine our lives. Give me an f'ing break.

Mike, you live in the city. What do you expect? People's lives are going to affect you. Deal with it. There are El tie-ups, traffic jams, long lines, loud music, buildings so close you can hear the shagging next door, etc. It's part of city life. You live in a society. You can't avoid the repurcussions of that. Living in Montana as a hermit may be your thing if you can't handle dealing with other people's problems.

Sorry Mike; but C makes a good point. This is a city, not a remote island.

As long as we live with others, NOBODY has full control of their lives and the events that surround it. Like it or not, other people's shit become your problems too. Your time, your needs, your problems don't become less important to you just because someone chooses to jump in front of the train you happened to be on. But they're gonna get shoved aside nonetheless.
The need to yank a mangled corpse from under the train trumps your need to get home in time for dinner.

If you think the public safety net that "someone doesn't want to use" is an adequate and effective tool to deal with stuff like this, you are sadly mistaken. It's shit. And the people with mental problems can't often find help for the very reason that they're mentally ill. Mental illness is just like any other disease, but we don't blame the patient that develops multiple sclerosis, or is born with spina bifida. Do you complain when someone with leg braces and a helmet limping down a staircase slows you down?

You can "refuse" to be dragged into someone else's problems all you want, but it's gonna happen anyway.

Nobody says that we have to care and "say 'aww' and re-examine our lives." But until we re-examine our society, this shit is going to keep on happening in the numbers we see. Deal with it.

Trust me, I'm FAR from a crybaby liberal, but I'm not so blind that I can't see the truth.

To e_five: "Terrorism"? "Terrorism"??? Get a fucking grip. Suicides don't "deliberatly seek to traumatize" others. Jesus, what idiots you people can be.