“He had a maturity beyond his age.” — security guard Jason Armstrong —Man dies in 11-storey fall (Ottawa Sun)
The quote above is applied to a university student who accidentally hurled himself over a balcony. The student was an engineering major, who apparently wasn’t clear on the concept of momentum, as he charged a balcony railing in order to spit farther than his friends. It’s little surprise to learn that alcohol was involved.
The reporter is walking a fine line in writing a story that won’t be offensive to grieving relatives, but still highlights the ironies that will probably make this guy a Darwin Award winner.
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Thanks for your comment, Heather.
I showed this Weblog to my mother during school break . As she read it tears filled her eyes. That's something I don't see a whole lot from her. She said," that is a very tragic loss for a family." She did something different today with this information. She asked me how reading this made me feel? I didn't know how to answer her without being judgemental,[which she doesn't allow]. The only words I could come up with were shocked and confused. Shocked because there were others there that could have said hold on, wait, maybe this isn't a good idea. The confusion comes from the reality that alcohol causes so many dangerous patterns, and it seems no one speaks out about them when they should. My mother didn't say anything at that point. She gave me a big hug, [ in school] She does that on purpose I think. She is one of the few teacher's that actually listen when students talk. So she knows there are several students that read newspapers online, plus weblogs, and other various things in computer classes. She set up something the students call a 'rap session',for this afternoon. It's a time and place ,in the school after classes ,where students can come and talk about how they are feeling over things in the news, or traumatic happenings that we don't know how or whom to talk to. We've done this for several years, and it seems to be beneficial for all involved. Students have a place to speak, and be heard by teacher's and a couple of parent's that care enough to sit and "really" listen. With that said, Was this a tragic loss? Yes it was, but it's something that students here will know how to stop, or deal with should one of our classmates or friends decide they are superman or wonderwoman because of alcohol. This is another prime example why friends shouldn't let friends drink.