I don't know why but all the craziness seems to happen on my evening to work. We were quite busy at the Ref Desk one evening when all of a sudden this guy comes through the front door and announces that there is a guy sitting on the roof of a building across the street threatening to jump so what do all the people on the public Internet computers do? They all file out in to the street to watch. The police were there trying to talk him down and the fire-fighters were on standby with their ladder truck. It really was quite a production.
The whole scene went on for about an hour. The local news reporters were setting up live-feeds in front of the library. There were lights flashing everywhere. It really was quite impressive.
The guy sat on top of a three-story building with his legs dangling over the edge demanding that someone bring him a pack of cigarettes and a six-pack of Bud Light or he was going to jump. After an obliging officer ran into the gas station on the corner and retrieved his prize possessions, the guy peacefully surrendered. Whoever said that nothing ever happens in a small town?
Call me crazy but if it were me I think I would have picked the high rise building next door to stage a dramatic suicide attempt. Even if the guy had fallen, I think he was too pickled to feel it. At most all he probably would have gotten was a broken leg from jumping from that height anyway.
