A Comedian Talked A Suicidal Guy Off The Ledge By Offering To Grab A Beer With Him
Twin Cities- When Kwame Anderson and his co-worker saw a man clutching the outer fence of the Earl Street bridge over Interstate 94, Anderson jumped out of the truck he was riding in. “Hey, what are you doing?” Anderson asked the man. “If you’re thinking of jumping, you don’t have to jump.” But the man told Anderson, “You don’t know me, you don’t care. Why are you trying to save me?” the 29-year-old recalled later Wednesday. Anderson responded, “If I didn’t care I wouldn’t be here right now.” St. Paul police officers assembled, and the Minnesota State Patrol and St. Paul fire department closed eastbound I-94 in the area about 7:50 a.m. Wednesday. Anderson — who’s a comedian and by day a beer salesman — said he didn’t know what to do, but he pictured actor Denzel Washington when he played a negotiator in “Inside Man.” He figured he needed to build rapport with the man and he kept talking to him. He asked the man for his name and learned he was originally from Chicago.
Then, Anderson asked, “If you come down from there, do you want to get a drink with me and talk about what’s going on?” Anderson ran to the truck, grabbed a case of beer, opened it and told him, “I have a pack of Coors Light for you. Follow me.’ ”
Well isn’t that nice. A little feel good story to carry you through the rest of your Thursday. A guy talks a suicidal guy off the ledge by talking to him and offering to grab a beer with him. Not only that but he grabbed a whole case of Coors Light. Turns out that can be pretty damn persuasive. It’s no time for jokes but it would’ve been a real problem if the guy on the ledge was a Bud Light guy. Super quick thinking by that comedian/beer delivery guy. I don’t know much but I do know that I’d freeze up in a moment like this. Put me in charge of that situation and there might be a different outcome unfortunately. Or I’d just tackle the guy off the ledge so he wouldn’t jump. Both methods are effective I suppose.
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Turns out beer has even more power than we all thought. Here we thought it was only good for getting hammered drunk with your pals but it can actually save lives. Good PR day for beer in general. This whole story is a nice lesson. If you think somebody is going through a tough time, ask them to grab a beer with you. It can make all the difference.