Senior pushes suicide jumper in south China

[Bells]

T'hell ?!

Chen Fuchao, a man heavily in debt, had been contemplating suicide on a bridge in southern China for hours when a passer-by came up, shook his hand -- and pushed him off the ledge.

Chen fell 26 feet (8 meters) onto a partially inflated emergency air cushion laid out by authorities and survived, suffering spine and elbow injuries, the official Xinhua News Agency said Saturday.

The passer-by, 66-year-old Lai Jiansheng, had been fed up with what he called Chen's "selfish activity," Xinhua said. Traffic around the Haizhu bridge in the city of Guangzhou had been backed up for five hours and police had cordoned off the area.

"I pushed him off because jumpers like Chen are very selfish. Their action violates a lot of public interest," Lai was quoted as saying by Xinhua. "They do not really dare to kill themselves. Instead, they just want to raise the relevant government authorities' attention to their appeals."

Xinhua said Lai was "taken away by police" but did not elaborate.

A police officer who answered the telephone Saturday at a station close to the bridge confirmed the incident and said it was under investigation. He refused to give any other details and hung up.

According to Xinhua, Chen wanted to kill himself because he had accrued 2 million yuan ($290,000) in debt from a failed construction project.

On Thursday, he made his way to the Haizhu bridge, where 11 other people have tried to take their lives since April.

Lai volunteered to talk Chen down but was turned away by police, Xinhua said. Lai then broke through the cordon, climbed to where Chen sat, greeted him with a handshake, then pushed.

Photos in the Beijing Morning Post showed Lai, shoeless and in a T-shirt, saluting after Chen fell.

The paper said Lai was released on bail Friday but did not give any details. It said he had been on medication for "a mental illness" for decades and had been on his way to a hospital for his pills.

Chen was recovering in the hospital, Xinhua said.

Leason of the Day: In China, don't fuck around. If you want to jump, JUMP! Don't hold the damn traffic or Chinese elderly people will speed up your departure!

[BitVyper]

Apparently this is the twelfth time, so I can understand a bit of frustration, but man, there's a line.

[Nique]

This sort of exemplifies (admittedly this is an extreme instance) the attitude problem a lot of older people have. I mean, it's not just the elderly but they seem to act on this impulse more than others. That sense of entitlement, the refusal to listen to logical reasoning when something upsets them...

I just don't understand at what point we begin to belive that our age in itself entitles us to what we want when we want it. I can sympathize with being frusterated with the fast pace of the world and a certain inability to cope with things as well as we once did, but when you start threatening to kill people with your shotgun (happened to me) or, in this case, pushing folks off a bridge, well, I'm not really willing to extend to you the usual grace with which I treat my elders.

[Mike McC]

Originally Posted by Nique

This sort of exemplifies (admittedly this is an extreme instance) the attitude problem a lot of older people have. I mean, it's not just the elderly but they seem to act on this impulse more than others. That sense of entitlement, the refusal to listen to logical reasoning when something upsets them...

I just don't understand at what point we begin to belive that our age in itself entitles us to what we want when we want it. I can sympathize with being frusterated with the fast pace of the world and a certain inability to cope with things as well as we once did, but when you start threatening to kill people with your shotgun (happened to me) or, in this case, pushing folks off a bridge, well, I'm not really willing to extend to you the usual grace with which I treat my elders.

You did read the line about "a mental illness" and the guy was going to get his pills, right? I don't think this is a proper scenario to use to launch into a discussion about entitlement and the attitude problems of older people.

In fact, I dare say that the same amount of younguns act on this impluse than the elderly, if not moreso. This is not specific to older age in the slightest.

I mean, look at Road Rage.

[Rejected Again]

So he was $290,000 in debt, Holding up traffic, and pissing off old people. Depending on how long I had been stuck in traffic, I would probably push him off also.

Sarcastic remarks aside, that old guy was crazy. I wonder if he would have made the same choice had he had his meds. I guess the topic up for debate is: Can those who have a mental illness be held accountable for their actions. Depending on the severity of the illness its my opinion that they should be. Lai was clearly able to know right from wrong in this situation and it was a matter of him just getting far to irritated.

As for attitudes of the elderly. They have 3 attitudes that I have generally witnessed.

1) The Cranky "Get off my lawn you snot nosed brats" crazy old person

2) The sweet caring types. You know, the ones that have candy and WONT rape you.

3) The "Meh" aka normal Old people. These ones are rare but they still exist.

[BitVyper]

Yeah, that's right: Seniors aren't actually individuals. Once you hit fifty five, the government takes you to a reprogramming facility and replaces your personality with one of three cliches.

Seriously, can we cut down on the ageism a bit?

[Rejected Again]

Bit you don't live in Iowa do you? Once you come here you suddenly realize those cliches are true. I live in a small community here are I swear that they all act in one of those 3 manners.

[bluestarultor]

Well, you've got the archetypes, yes, but there's a lot of expression past that. My mom worked in nursing homes, so I heard a lot about old people for many years. The rich ones are the worst of the worst if they're bad, apparently, because DAMMIT if their money doesn't entitle them to whatever they want.

Edit: To provide an example, there was one lady who needed to take medication to live, and when my mom tried to give it to her, the woman actually ordered my mom to beg her to do it.

[Professor Smarmiarty]

Originally Posted by Rejected Again

Bit you don't live in Iowa do you? Once you come here you suddenly realize those cliches are true. I live in a small community here are I swear that they all act in one of those 3 manners.

Memories are funny things. It's been well shown that we tend to remember things that fit to our previously held beliefs and reject odd details.
This is part of the reason stereotypes are so pervasive in that we remember the instances where they fit and forget all the contrasting evidence.
And you've summed up a whole set of people in three sentences. Not a single person in the world conforms to a sentence description no matter how much we choose to caraciture them.
These no need to insult whole groups of people. I mean you wouldn't summarise, say, African Americans in a single sentence so why old people?

[Azisien]

Pushed to the point where he shoved a man off a bridge, and the guy didn't even die! Man!