Subway Tragedy
the K Chronicles: Subway Tragedy
The Official K Chronicles and (Th)ink Website
Humorous comics, often with political overtones. The official K Chronicles and (th)ink website by cartoonist Keith Knight!
the K Chronicles: Subway Tragedy
yikes, that’s nasty. Those suicides are especially rough on the drivers of the trains (or buses, etc.)
Wow, you saw that happen? How terrible. Folks, it’s never that bad. Get some help. There are people who love you. Suicide won’t help you or them.
Oh….my…Gawd!
Some people are determined to end it, and sometimes they can be pulled back from the brink. You wonder if maybe if the people on the platfom hadn’t jeered at her, if one of them had talked to her as if she was a human being, if she could have been pulled back from the edge. I went through some years of clinical depression in which I absolutely diod NOT want to have a firearm in the house.
And yes, it is also brutal on the person driving the train. I heard once that at any given time the CSX railroad has several engineers in psychotherapy after the train they were operating hit somebody who tried to jump the crossing. NPR had an article about a support group for engineers of the Boston-based MBTA commuter trains who have been put in that position. They described an engineer who went through that after a woman stood in front of his train one night, and how at the moment of impact he was frantically pulling the emergency brake and screaming “Nooooo!”
I also remember an Amtrak engineer years ago who said of people who try to drive across the tracks to beat the train “The last thing you see is their eyes looking up at you.” That’s got to haunt you.
I’m sorry, Keith, that really sucks.
…that you had to see that, I mean. Not your comic. :(
Again? This strip was from years ago! Did (you see) another one happen?
@ mgabrys..
Yup..it’s a repeat–but it’s one that I felt was especially timely with all the bullying and war vet suicides.
Everyone else: This happened years ago when I was living in the Bay Area. Fruitvale BART station. She survived the impact. But was moaning in a way that didn’t sound human.
The thing I remember most, other than her sad, empty eyes, was this one guy had it together enough to run over to this little kid (who was with his mom on the opposite platform), and block his eyes from seeing the impact of the BART train.
Heavy.
Oh gods, I remember this one Keef, and made me feel so sad for everyone involved. I was amazed to discover later that you said she survived. Here in DC, it happens occasionally, and it’s always awful. A couple of weeks ago, I was at one Metro stop platform and heard an unearthly, very *wrong-sounding* noise from the platform above. I knew instantly what it was (and I was glad I didn’t actually witness it or tried to run and see – what could I have done anyway but gawk?) and rushed home to hear the news. Yes, a man purposefully jumped on the tracks and was hit. He survived initially, but I never knew if he continued to survive. I can’t imagine how the train operator or the witnesses felt; hearing the sounds were frightening enough. Suicide just always breaks my heart. But thank you for your work – maybe this kind of story ends up stopping even just one person from making that terrible decision.
Over the weekend this story prompted me to remember another story of attempted suicide, one that also has a San Fran connection, and one that had a better outcome.
.
About 100 years ago or more there was a young man in San Francisco who was dumped by a lady he was courting. He decided to end it. He got a revolver, got on the streetcar and rode out to Golden Gate Park. He sat on a park bench, looking out at the ocean, and collecting his thoughts.
.
Then he remembered something. He had a large rip in the underwear he was wearing. He decided his body couldn’t be found like that, and got back on the streetcar to go home and change. Halfway home he decided “She’s not worth all this trouble I’m going through!” He put away the revolver and forgot about ending it.
.
He went on to become a successful architect. His name was Addison Mizner, and his Mediterranean Revival mansions still stand in Palm Beach, Florida.
.
I got through a lot of depression by saying “This too shall pass” and “Hey, you can always die later.” I’m glad I did, too.
.
Excellent story, Tom!! I always have that “This too shall pass” attitude!
I heard that in the movie “The bridge”, that interviews people who jumped off the golden gate bridge and survived, practically all of them had a realization 2/3 of the way down that all their problems could be conquered and they shouldn’t have jumped.
Mil gracias x subir los promo only k la vdared estan super, solamente kisiera comentar y recordar k el link 9 del urban video de sep no a sido arreglado,solo espero k lo reparen para poder descomprimirlo. gracias.