In the Balance

Right now there's a man threatening to jump off a fourth floor balcony of the justice building right across the street and visible from our office windows, and you don't know if it's more insensitive to gawk or to simply ignore him and go back to your work.

[An hour later]

I had a couple other coworkers from classifieds come up to check out the view from the newsroom. "How awful," one said, and "Some people will do anything to get attention," said another. One girl came up, looked out, and went, "Men don't have any problems; it's we women who carry everything."


He didn't jump.