I was enjoying beautiful fall weather in Buckhead, Atlanta with a friend this morning, following a long week. As we sat outside and pulled our masks down to sip our tasty espresso drinks, the sound of sirens started far off in the distance and quickly grew closer and closer. I put the cup down and held it in my hands. Four armored vehicles that looked like army tanks sped by right in front of us.
Then SUVs with blue flashing lights on top came racing behind them. We looked at each other wondering what could possibly be happening that would require all of this. Shortly afterwards two trucks that said SWAT followed. They all sped past cars, weaving through traffic, and around the corner. This did not seem to be a car accident scene or even a theft crime; something less common must be taking place nearby.
My friend looked up and saw the figure of a person
standing on the top of a building,
near the edge.
It was the Buckhead Theater, a very recognizable building within the skyscrape of the city. Would SWAT be called for this? Was the person threatening to blow up the building? I wondered if it was a hostage situation, if the person was a potential shooter, or if the lives of the surrounding general public were in danger. Streets nearby were beginning to become blocked off.
People were getting their phones out and filming the building.
We left the area and went online searching for some real-time news. And there it was. A young man, age 27, was attempting to jump from the building to take his life. The article explained that police had found him going through what appeared to be an emotional crisis.
They were in the midst of what would end up being
a 3 hour stand-off to try and change his mind.
So the man hadn’t been threatening to blow up the building after all. He wasn’t strapped with explosives (maybe I’ve seen too many movies). He wasn’t even armed. That meant, that all of these people – all of these groups (police, SWAT, ambulances, siren-armed vehicles) were racing to the scene not to protect “general society” but rather, just one person. Just him.
This one man, to them, was worth all of the panic, the staff, the money, the time – whatever it took – to try and save his life. To try and change his mind; to show him (even convince him) that he was valuable. That he was worth the whole city shutting down and blocking off streets as far as the eye could see.
Another way to say it is:
they were showing him
he was worth saving.
Whether intentional or not, this stood out to me. I’m sure it is protocol but I have to say, it was a stunning sight to see that when someone tries to take their life – everyone jumps in together to try and help them. To save them; because inherently we want people to stay alive, and to be okay.
I have to ask myself, will it require life-threatening circumstances for us to take action in prioritizing the wellbeing of a total stranger? Or on the flip-side: will it require us standing on the edge of a building, for someone to take notice and help us?
After 3 hours the man came down and decided not to jump.
Before we jump:
can we remember how valuable
we are, how people care that we are okay,
and how an entire city would
shut down just for us?
I hope we consider our value more often – before we become convinced the only way out is to jump. I hope our first reaction is not to get out our phones and film the commotion, but instead to live in such a way that we step into people’s circumstances with compassion to prevent a scene like this from even happening in the first place.
