Radio Prank & Suicide.

Hugh Freaking Dillon

Cosmo wrote:

...
But, you hang in there, right?
i can only imagine what servere depression would be like... no... i can't even imagine what it would be like. And you bring up a true point... the thoughts being irrational. They do not think about the mass of human wreckage they leave behind for others to deal with because they falsely believe that they ones they love and who love them will be better off without them.
It is a tough call, but from all of the suicides that have taken place.... how often have we heard someone say, 'Yeah... I'm glad he/she killed himself/herself. We are better off, now that that burden is off our shoulders'? My guess, never to extremely rare occasions.
...
Hang in there, friend. The world is so much more interesting with you in it.

yes, I do hang in there. sometimes I think life would be so much easier without loved ones...then I wouldn't be accountable for actually doing it. I think about it a lot. All I can think of is how much my daughters would be f**ked up because of it. A friend of mine's brother did it. Wife. Two young kids. They are still f**ked. And his wife found him hanging in their closet. That's one of the things I think about the most. How I could do it so as to minimize the trauma to the person who found me. A buddy of mine drove out into the country and blew his head off in his car. A girl I knew did it with pills. A co workers step-daughter hung herself in her room.

Of course no one wishes someone to commit suicide. that's the point. the person thinking the world is better off without them is not thinking rationally.

I am probably still alive because I'm so open to people with my emotions. Most of my friends know I'm on "crazy pills", I was in regular contact during my lowest period with my Mother, who basically told me one day on the phone "that's it-your dad is coming to pick you up right now and you're heading to the doctor". Others aren't so lucky. They don't have that support system. They aren't as open as I am in their personality. Things like that. So just because I'm here and someone else isn't doesn't mean I'm stronger than them. It just means we have different circumstances.

Believe me.......as I noted above, I've known several people who committed suicide. And for all my personal experiences and knowledge on the subject, I still get angry at them. That's natural. I wouldn't go so far as to say that this is a selfish reaction as polaris said.......I suppose all of our emotions could be considered selfish, really, but I also understand why people do it and try my best not to judge them for it.

pandora

Yes, so true, who are we to judge?
I wish suicide was not an option, but it is, I understand thinking it is.
I tell my young people to not consider it an option but they don't listen....
I didn't listen.
They must learn for themselves, all I can do is hope and pray they do.

This is one subject one must figure out themselves. To live or not to live.
I don't think most people are sorry when they choose life.
Time heals, if this lovely lady had just given some more time....
time, love could have surrounded her I know it.
Just wait it out, don't do it, don't do it.

polaris_x

Hugh Freaking Dillon wrote:

Believe me.......as I noted above, I've known several people who committed suicide. And for all my personal experiences and knowledge on the subject, I still get angry at them. That's natural. I wouldn't go so far as to say that this is a selfish reaction as polaris said.......I suppose all of our emotions could be considered selfish, really, but I also understand why people do it and try my best not to judge them for it.

i should clarify that i actually don't believe feeling anger at someone who commits suicide is selfish ... it was a response to saying someone who does is selfish ... when taken in the same context - it should be applied everywhere is all ... hence the note about semantics ...

Cosmo

polaris_x wrote:

sure ... those are the consequences ... but similar to the person who committed suicide letting his torment get to him ... the same can be said for the people who suffered after ... if we expect someone to not go the route of suicide should we then not expect that people who experienced suicide to let it go? ...

in the end - it's clearly a tragic event for everyone involved ... my only point is simply that if continue to demonize people who commit suicide as being selfish ... we learn nothing nor do we move towards a world where there is less ... there are real reasons why someone would consider suicide ... the validity of those reasons are not for us to judge but simply to accept ... and if we want to prevent this from happening again we need to listen ...

...
True. I don't know how the story ends because I lost contact with them a long time ago.
All i can go by is the experience i had with them during that time. And it was profound. The youngest brother, for example. He had to be about 11, maybe. I ran into him later when he was 19 or so. He got kicked out of the Navy on a medical discharge because of his drug use. He spoke rather frankly about his brother, Steve, and told me they were still finding little bone fragments and pieces of scalp with hair attached, years afterwards. He talked about it like we we talking about cars or something. Maybe, it was part of his healing, but, it was pretty odd to hear.
He told me he hadn't seen his sisters in about 5 years... last he heard they were living in some other state and that the oldest one might still be in jail.
Anyway, I do see your point. maybe 'selfish' isn't the right term... but, the result was, Steve's pain was thrust upon an 11 year old boy who probably didn't deserve such a fate.
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I'd also add... none of our friend's saw this coming... but, really, what did we know? We were just kids, struggling through teenagehood, too.

Hugh Freaking Dillon

Cosmo wrote:

polaris_x wrote:

sure ... those are the consequences ... but similar to the person who committed suicide letting his torment get to him ... the same can be said for the people who suffered after ... if we expect someone to not go the route of suicide should we then not expect that people who experienced suicide to let it go? ...

in the end - it's clearly a tragic event for everyone involved ... my only point is simply that if continue to demonize people who commit suicide as being selfish ... we learn nothing nor do we move towards a world where there is less ... there are real reasons why someone would consider suicide ... the validity of those reasons are not for us to judge but simply to accept ... and if we want to prevent this from happening again we need to listen ...

...
True. I don't know how the story ends because I lost contact with them a long time ago.
All i can go by is the experience i had with them during that time. And it was profound. The youngest brother, for example. He had to be about 11, maybe. I ran into him later when he was 19 or so. He got kicked out of the Navy on a medical discharge because of his drug use. He spoke rather frankly about his brother, Steve, and told me they were still finding little bone fragments and pieces of scalp with hair attached, years afterwards. He talked about it like we we talking about cars or something. Maybe, it was part of his healing, but, it was pretty odd to hear.
He told me he hadn't seen his sisters in about 5 years... last he heard they were living in some other state and that the oldest one might still be in jail.
Anyway, I do see your point. maybe 'selfish' isn't the right term... but, the result was, Steve's pain was thrust upon an 11 year old boy who probably didn't deserve such a fate.
...
I'd also add... none of our friend's saw this coming... but, really, what did we know? We were just kids, struggling through teenagehood, too.

that's one of the hardest things to deal with. no one actually believes that someone is going to do it, regardless if they act depressed or not. because it seems like such a leap to take. when I hear this, that people are shocked, it tells me the person was probably ashamed of the stigma that still exists towards depression and did their best to hide it. and it's so sad, because it is a medical condition, but the shame is still there, like we can control it as it is "just a bad day" or however the person justifies it to themselves. and no one wants to admit it. they might think they'll get locked up for the shit that goes through their mind. believe me, it ain't no treat being in my head a lot of the time. and it's relatively easy to say that on the internet. it's 1000 times harder to admit it to others, as well as yourself.

gimmesometruth27

we had a board member commit suicide 7 or 8 years ago. Jessie Kasper. I'll never forget her name or her photo. very sad time to be a member here back then. there is a memorial for on her on facebook somewhere. her friends and family are still trying to deal with it. :(

Hugh Freaking Dillon

gimmesometruth27 wrote:

we had a board member commit suicide 7 or 8 years ago. Jessie Kasper. I'll never forget her name or her photo. very sad time to be a member here back then. there is a memorial for on her on facebook somewhere. her friends and family are still trying to deal with it. :(

how does one come to find out a board member died? did she know another board member and their family? if I was gone one day, everyone here would probably think I just got banned/left.

gimmesometruth27

Hugh Freaking Dillon wrote:

gimmesometruth27 wrote:

we had a board member commit suicide 7 or 8 years ago. Jessie Kasper. I'll never forget her name or her photo. very sad time to be a member here back then. there is a memorial for on her on facebook somewhere. her friends and family are still trying to deal with it. :(

how does one come to find out a board member died? did she know another board member and their family? if I was gone one day, everyone here would probably think I just got banned/left.

she had friends and family on here.

yeah nobody would know if anything happened to most of us unless we had friends or family to tell people on here.

kinda morbid to think about. kinda makes you wonder about the formerly prolific posters that are no longer around...

DS1119

WHile suicide is no laughing matter the rest of the World can't sterilize themselves either. The World is a big bad place at times.

rollings

gimmesometruth27 wrote:

Hugh Freaking Dillon wrote:

how does one come to find out a board member died? did she know another board member and their family? if I was gone one day, everyone here would probably think I just got banned/left.

she had friends and family on here.

yeah nobody would know if anything happened to most of us unless we had friends or family to tell people on here.

kinda morbid to think about. kinda makes you wonder about the formerly prolific posters that are no longer around...

...dead...

BinFrog

gimmesometruth27 wrote:

Hugh Freaking Dillon wrote:

gimmesometruth27 wrote:

we had a board member commit suicide 7 or 8 years ago. Jessie Kasper. I'll never forget her name or her photo. very sad time to be a member here back then. there is a memorial for on her on facebook somewhere. her friends and family are still trying to deal with it. :(

how does one come to find out a board member died? did she know another board member and their family? if I was gone one day, everyone here would probably think I just got banned/left.

she had friends and family on here.

yeah nobody would know if anything happened to most of us unless we had friends or family to tell people on here.

kinda morbid to think about. kinda makes you wonder about the formerly prolific posters that are no longer around...

Happened on the Red Mosquito forum a few years ago to a guy as well.

even flow - question mark

Wow, can you be that stupid to think that the queen would be calling a public line to speak with her inlaw in the first place. That is all that needs to be said about this whole situation. Well that and M-5!

Hugh Freaking Dillon

even flow - question mark wrote:

Wow, can you be that stupid to think that the queen would be calling a public line to speak with her inlaw in the first place. That is all that needs to be said about this whole situation. Well that and M-5!

classy.

BinFrog

Hugh Freaking Dillon wrote:

even flow - question mark wrote:

Wow, can you be that stupid to think that the queen would be calling a public line to speak with her inlaw in the first place. That is all that needs to be said about this whole situation. Well that and M-5!

classy.

It's easy to get indignant after an episode like this, but think logically: How in the world did she possibly think she got a direct call from the Queen and Prince Charles....who had horrible fake British accents? As the radio hosts said: they were sure 100 other radio stations and pranksters would already have tried to call the hospital.

And SHAME on the hospital for not having a formal inquiry response. There's no way the call should have been handled by the nurse.

It sucks on many levels, but I do not blame the radio hosts in the slightest bit. This was a REALLY innocent prank. Unfortunately the victim responded by taking her own life after feeling humiliated. She should have felt silly, made a little public appearance, and let the episode just fade away. Nobody would remember the story in a week.

polaris_x

BinFrog wrote:

It's easy to get indignant after an episode like this, but think logically: How in the world did she possibly think she got a direct call from the Queen and Prince Charles....who had horrible fake British accents? As the radio hosts said: they were sure 100 other radio stations and pranksters would already have tried to call the hospital.

And SHAME on the hospital for not having a formal inquiry response. There's no way the call should have been handled by the nurse.

It sucks on many levels, but I do not blame the radio hosts in the slightest bit. This was a REALLY innocent prank. Unfortunately the victim responded by taking her own life after feeling humiliated. She should have felt silly, made a little public appearance, and let the episode just fade away. Nobody would remember the story in a week.

i believe she was not the person who normally answers the phone ... that person was away so she answered the phone to help out ...

i think the people who want to brush this off continue to forget that:
1. this "prank" led to a major security breach and the disclosure of private information of a major public figure ... and that regardless of whether she takes her own life or not - she could have very well lost her job ... are we that shallow of a society that we take pleasure in someone like this losing her job?
2. the radio station did not follow standard protocols of gaining permission from the person the prank was on to broadcast ... there is a reason why that protocol is in place ...

even flow - question mark

Hugh Freaking Dillon wrote:

even flow - question mark wrote:

Wow, can you be that stupid to think that the queen would be calling a public line to speak with her inlaw in the first place. That is all that needs to be said about this whole situation. Well that and M-5!

classy.

I'll wear my tux next time to spice it up. It's the comment section to leave a comment you believe in.

even flow - question mark

polaris_x wrote:

BinFrog wrote:

It's easy to get indignant after an episode like this, but think logically: How in the world did she possibly think she got a direct call from the Queen and Prince Charles....who had horrible fake British accents? As the radio hosts said: they were sure 100 other radio stations and pranksters would already have tried to call the hospital.

And SHAME on the hospital for not having a formal inquiry response. There's no way the call should have been handled by the nurse.

It sucks on many levels, but I do not blame the radio hosts in the slightest bit. This was a REALLY innocent prank. Unfortunately the victim responded by taking her own life after feeling humiliated. She should have felt silly, made a little public appearance, and let the episode just fade away. Nobody would remember the story in a week.

i believe she was not the person who normally answers the phone ... that person was away so she answered the phone to help out ...

i think the people who want to brush this off continue to forget that:
1. this "prank" led to a major security breach and the disclosure of private information of a major public figure ... and that regardless of whether she takes her own life or not - she could have very well lost her job ... are we that shallow of a society that we take pleasure in someone like this losing her job?
2. the radio station did not follow standard protocols of gaining permission from the person the prank was on to broadcast ... there is a reason why that protocol is in place ...

Because nobody on this board has listened to their local radio stations and had a giggle when they call up somebody and make them look bad live on the air. Or watched that inane show punked and wondered how it is even on t.v..

Who Princess

As I've already posted, the woman who answered the phone was an immigrant and not a native English speaker. How would she recognize the accents as phony? Referring to someone as stupid for mishandling something that wasn't even her job is harsh.

BinFrog

Who Princess wrote:

As I've already posted, the woman who answered the phone was an immigrant and not a native English speaker. How would she recognize the accents as phony? Referring to someone as stupid for mishandling something that wasn't even her job is harsh.

I am not calling her stupid. She just had no common sense. The next time my phone rings and someone claims to be the queen, I'm probably going to think it's a prank call.

You can take the suicide out of this story, and suddenly the discussion is very different.

BinFrog

polaris_x wrote:

i think the people who want to brush this off continue to forget that:
1. this "prank" led to a major security breach and the disclosure of private information of a major public figure ... and that regardless of whether she takes her own life or not - she could have very well lost her job ... are we that shallow of a society that we take pleasure in someone like this losing her job?
2. the radio station did not follow standard protocols of gaining permission from the person the prank was on to broadcast ... there is a reason why that protocol is in place ...

1) I know. the nurse, even though answering phones is not her primary job function, should not give out private information to ANYONE who calls, without proper authorization. I do not take pleasure in anyone losing their job, nor did I ever state as such.

2) I do not know Australian radio prank call protocol. In the U.S. it is illegal to conduct prank calls on the air...which is why it's hilarious that stations keep airing "prank calls" and people believe they are real.