OK, a little background first...
I work for the City of Lancaster in the Park and Recs department. I'm maintenance so that requires anything from plumbing, electrical, and even janatorial work. February of 07 I was assigned to take care of the janitorial work in Public Works department building. The first person i met over there was one of the Construction Inspectors. He was a cool guy. early to mid 40's. He would usually work late so I would be there and we'd shoot the shit every now and then.
He would tell me that he hated his job because the pay wasn't worth the headache and responsibility but he would say it in an every day manner. The way most of us would say it. And he'd laugh about it. I would tell him i'm trying to move to a different position and he would say 'shit. fuck it, take my position' and we'd laugh. The 'you can have my job' talk was almost an everyday conversation topic so I never thought much about it.
One time he told me he was arguing with his 16 year old son and his son decided to try and man up so he laid his son out with a one-hitter quitter. He would laugh while telling this story and told me that when his son went to school that morning with a bloody nose, he called the school to let them know what happened and if they needed him, he would go down there. The school called the cops and the cops told him that even though his son deserved it, he couldn't do that unless his son hit him first. So they made him go to some anger management classes in order for him to keep his son. While telling me this story, he mentioned that he understood that his son has a lot of built in anger since his mom recently passed away. He didn't say 'my wife' passed away, so I assumed they were seperated.
A period went by where he was gone for about 2 months. He finally came back to work and he told me he was trying to transfer to the Crack and Seal Asphalt crew because he was tired of the Inspector position and the politics the job had. So once again, he laughed and said I could really have his job now. He got the transfer and I didn't see him for about 4 months. I ran into him again and he told me how happy he was with his new position.
So last week a position in the Public Works department opens up. I apply for it and i'm excited because i'm almost positive it's mine.
Yesterday I find out that last week this guy commited suicide and the position I applied for was his
confused:
Turns out that he was still with his wife when she passed away and he hid how hurt he was, pretty good. Plus the fact that him and his kids were having a fall-out. I found out he was missing a lot of work and they told him that he needed to start showing up more or they would have no choice but to let him go. I haven't talked to him in about 3 months so I didn't know how bad his life was, or at least how bad HE thought it was. He seemed great the last time I saw him.
I'm just feeling a little weird about the situation because he would always say I could have his position and now potentially, I might actual end up with it
Fate has to be a woman because you never know what's on her mind...
Also, I called a friend last night to talk to him about this and he mentions that a friend of ours in high school commited suicide on this past Mother's Day One of our friend's lived next to him and he said he saw our other friend running in circles in his yard, knelt down and prayed for a bit, then ran back into the house and blew his brains out.
His mom runs out screaming and asking our other friend for help, when he runs in there, my friend is just twitching on the floor. Blood and brain matter everywhere
I'm just at a loss of emotion right now... Neither of these guys showed ANY sign that suicide was an option but I suppose that's the case in most suicides...
I work for the City of Lancaster in the Park and Recs department. I'm maintenance so that requires anything from plumbing, electrical, and even janatorial work. February of 07 I was assigned to take care of the janitorial work in Public Works department building. The first person i met over there was one of the Construction Inspectors. He was a cool guy. early to mid 40's. He would usually work late so I would be there and we'd shoot the shit every now and then.
He would tell me that he hated his job because the pay wasn't worth the headache and responsibility but he would say it in an every day manner. The way most of us would say it. And he'd laugh about it. I would tell him i'm trying to move to a different position and he would say 'shit. fuck it, take my position' and we'd laugh. The 'you can have my job' talk was almost an everyday conversation topic so I never thought much about it.
One time he told me he was arguing with his 16 year old son and his son decided to try and man up so he laid his son out with a one-hitter quitter. He would laugh while telling this story and told me that when his son went to school that morning with a bloody nose, he called the school to let them know what happened and if they needed him, he would go down there. The school called the cops and the cops told him that even though his son deserved it, he couldn't do that unless his son hit him first. So they made him go to some anger management classes in order for him to keep his son. While telling me this story, he mentioned that he understood that his son has a lot of built in anger since his mom recently passed away. He didn't say 'my wife' passed away, so I assumed they were seperated.
A period went by where he was gone for about 2 months. He finally came back to work and he told me he was trying to transfer to the Crack and Seal Asphalt crew because he was tired of the Inspector position and the politics the job had. So once again, he laughed and said I could really have his job now. He got the transfer and I didn't see him for about 4 months. I ran into him again and he told me how happy he was with his new position.
So last week a position in the Public Works department opens up. I apply for it and i'm excited because i'm almost positive it's mine.
Yesterday I find out that last week this guy commited suicide and the position I applied for was his
confused:Turns out that he was still with his wife when she passed away and he hid how hurt he was, pretty good. Plus the fact that him and his kids were having a fall-out. I found out he was missing a lot of work and they told him that he needed to start showing up more or they would have no choice but to let him go. I haven't talked to him in about 3 months so I didn't know how bad his life was, or at least how bad HE thought it was. He seemed great the last time I saw him.
I'm just feeling a little weird about the situation because he would always say I could have his position and now potentially, I might actual end up with it
Fate has to be a woman because you never know what's on her mind...
Also, I called a friend last night to talk to him about this and he mentions that a friend of ours in high school commited suicide on this past Mother's Day
One of our friend's lived next to him and he said he saw our other friend running in circles in his yard, knelt down and prayed for a bit, then ran back into the house and blew his brains out.His mom runs out screaming and asking our other friend for help, when he runs in there, my friend is just twitching on the floor. Blood and brain matter everywhere
I'm just at a loss of emotion right now... Neither of these guys showed ANY sign that suicide was an option but I suppose that's the case in most suicides...
