Man on a ledge

For hangig up the socks, I call it a socktapus.

A new venture cycling ice cream sellers


Bless them all big and small


I was heading home through Fairvew, a man put out his hand and I checked if he was trying to stop a bus behind me.
I was hired.
He started talking and what he said made sober listening.
Jesus I am in a bad way son. I found a couple of days ago that my hand was shaking so much that I would spill half of a cup of tea as I was drinking it, I was in a really bad way. I asked if he had had a mild stroke.
No son my doctor told me I was having a minor nervous breakdown. Nothing too serious, but he would have to do a lot of tests to make sure I was on the right track again.
He lives alone and has not worked for 6 years, he had a triple heart by-pass and he is a diabetic. He takes a very strong sleeping tablet (30mg) and last night he put 20 tablets in a row on the kitchen table and was just about to take them all. His neighbor walked in and looked at him. Seeing the look on his face he told him that he should go to see a doctor. Then he saw the tablets on the table.
His neighbor was shocked and scooped up all the tablets and took the rest of the drugs from the house. The next morning he drove the poor bloke to the doctor.
He had rung the Samaritans that night and a lovely woman spoke to him very gently, when he had composed his feelings she made him promise that he would seek medical help. She was very good,
I asked him if there was anything that pushed him over the edge?
Yes he said, my sons are always coming over and telling me their troubles, relationships, money and no work. I can't help them, I am worse off myself.

I am the oldest of 15 children, the doctor told me to think of how this would effect their lives and the lives of all the other people around me.

What frightened him most of all is that he seemed to be acting against his willpower.

He told me he didn't listen to our national radio station, which is full of doom and gloom. But he was a television addict. Loved listening to Nat King Cole and Mat Monroe. (A bit of an old romantic)

I hope you will confront your kids and tell them to fuck off with their problems. The doctor told me to do that as well, yous are right.

He was clearly shaken by the events, but I will say a prayer to my God, tonight perhaps we will say a short prayer to all our different Gods all over the world for the people standing on window ledges ready to jump.

Perhaps we should all stop moaning about our own problems a bit more and listen out for others.