Catching Rides to the Outskirts, Tying Faith Between Our Teeth

A very interesting article in today's Washington Post on the continuing debate in San Francisco over the topic of placing some type of barrier on the Golden Gate Bridge for the purpose of suicide prevention.

His life flashed before his eyes, Baldwin said, but it was not his past:

"It was my daughter. It was my dog. It was my wife. It was my family, mom, dad, brothers. And I thought: This is horrendous. They're going to be devastated.

"And I was going down at the time. The one time I clearly understood the consequences of what I was doing, it was too late. I just went, 'Oh. I'm an idiot.'

"And from here on out, things get blurry.

"I looked down at the water, and it's rushing up at me, and I black out. I don't remember anything more about the fall itself. I don't remember hitting the water. The next thing I do remember is I'm swimming and I'm thinking, 'Someone, please, help me. I want to live.' "

The next thing Baldwin knew, he was on a Coast Guard cutter and people were cutting away his clothes. "They were saying, 'Do you know who you are?' 'Do you know what you did?' 'Do you know why you did it?' 'Do you have a phone number?'

"One of them said: 'Do you want to do that again?'

"And I remember chuckling. 'No. Not really.' "

"The Golden Gate: A Bridge Too Deadly?" by Karl Vick in today's Washington Post.