A friends attempt at suicide

[wallyworld2]

A friend at work attempted suicide on the job last week

A nicer fellow you'll never know.

He'd only been working here for a few years and was very quite and nice.

He had a heavy accent and loved off road motorcycles

He used to say, we work to hard and too long and don't enjoy living the life we have or our families.

He wasn't militant about it. It was more of an observation.

I only learned recently that he was a refugee and survivor of the ethnic cleansing in Bosnia.

I can't help thinking what kind of effect our current political policies have had on him.

He has seen senseless, pointless cruelties before and I wonder if he was just overwhelmed with despair and hopelessness.

I wonder just how badly our entire refugee population is surviving this current administration

[irisblue]

1. How is he doing? How are you?

[wallyworld2]

5. From

what I understand, he had lost so much blood they were barely able to save him.

On top of that he was in need of heart surgery.

Which I understand he is in critical condition and alive.

He attempted suicide while he was working out of town and is in a hospital 120 miles north of our home base.

So it is difficult to get any details of his condition and people are reluctant to talk about it because if was a suicide attempt.

It just bothers me that someone that has been through so much may have been influenced by what is happening here in the US.

[mopinko]

2. i wonder how any of us is gonna survive this.

my sense of utter powerless is getting worse w every stupid day. it is really not a feeling i am used to. i am used to stepping up and trying to fix what is wrong w the world, even when i know i am just one tiny voice. i just usually scream that much louder. but these days? just shit. tia.

i hope your friend can find appropriate support in these tough times. stand up w him if you can.

i hope that this passes for you as well.

hang together.

[wallyworld2]

6. I feel the same way

This may sound weird but Virginia and Alabama elections were big reliefs for me.

Especially Alabama.

Luckily I do have support from friends. But I can understand how my co-worker could feel alone. Especially since so many of my Union co-workers are devout republicans who love to cheer on trump.

All I know, the only people who can get us out of these current conditions is us and a lot of us.

Thanks for your support

[awesomerwb1]

3. I know a couple of people under TPS

TPS is kind of like DACA, but a lot older.

They're not the usual cheerful, humble and sweet people they used to be back in 2016 and before. They're very nice and polite when we run into each other but I can tell they're not the same.

I've noticed they don't go out as much and try to avoid friendly gatherings. One of them told me they feel so helpless and second class and fear running into someone who will confront them and try to bully them as they've seen on videos. They're stuck between a rock and a hard place because they love the US, they work and pay taxes here, have US born kids and they can't go "home" because of the poverty and violence. Over 20 years here.

I hope your friend is doing better, but unfortunately I'm sure a lot of people right now are suffering from anxiety thanks to the racist a-holes from the far right in power.

[wallyworld2]

7. You are absolutely correct

We used to be the shiny beacon of hope.

Not so much now.

Rescinding as many civil rights and civil liberties as possible.

Looking for ways to avoid using the Constitution as with Guantanamo and rendition.

Anyway, if anything this is a reminder that I need to get involved and work towards a civil society.

Thanks

[awesomerwb1]

9. Yes wallyworld2

We all need to get involved and in most cases, we must do a lot more than we've ever done to get as many Dems elected as possible. I'm already cutting on some "luxuries" in order to be able to contribute as much money directly to campaigns as possible.

I'm ready.

[Exultant Democracy]

4. One of my dear friends escaped Bosnia

The stories he has are truly horrible, they still haunt me twenty years later and I didn’t even live them.

[wallyworld2]

8. And what kills me

Is it didn't take long at all for all that to happen.

It can happen here.

We have a long way to go but voting in large numbers can stop it, I think.

I can't believe that a president has been put into office that needs to be 'contained' by those around him and that so many see this as 'normal'.

I can't believe his tweets and his behavior have been viewed as 'rational' by so many.

We are in crazy, unstable times.

I can understand how my friend could feel so hopeless

Thank you.

[Exultant Democracy]

10. Yeah it is easy to see how 30% of the population would be happy to kill another 30%

while the last third in the middle look on.