comment: >
  
  How can this fall under "Copaganda" are you telling me that it didn't happen?
  Likewise why shouldn't the news report on this exactly?
context: I hope this person is given the resources he needs to feel more empowered and confident. That child will likely be better for having their father in their life as long as he is doing his absolute best…even if he’s not perfect. Becoming a father at 17 must feel unbelievably scary, and who knows what his support system at home is like. I hope he has a loving family, and wish him many MANY years of growth, joy, and success. I wish I could hug him too 😭 >
  
  Shame society at large will forget about them in the coming years, optimistically, for much the same reasons as the societal pressures that drove the father to want to kill himself. Inadequate resources, Inadequate societal safety nets, and inadequate opportunity. >
  
  I agree 100%. I volunteer regularly at an organization that helps homeless individuals. After spending significant time with them, it really became clear to me how simple some of their issues started out as, and most of the time how easy and relatively “cheap” it would be to intervene and help them before things got worse and worse over the years as their lives spiraled out of their control. These people have asked for help from many prominent organizations designed to help the homeless and had been turned down initially (“they don’t qualify”) only to finally become “eligible” after a few years had passed and their lives become an unrecognizable mess with several other new issues compounded. Why can’t we help people when they first need assistance? This kid needs love and support, both from his family, and also from society. 
  I know I mostly touched on homelessness (which I don’t suspect he is dealing with, based on the article) but this applies for almost all issues — addiction, mental health, teen parenthood, etc. Beyond saying “we need to help each other”, I don’t know what solution to offer. I don’t know how to fix the problem…but I care deeply for him and anyone else who is suffering or struggling. I wish there was more I could do. >
  
  
  only to finally become “eligible” after a few years had passed and their lives become an unrecognizable mess with several other new issues compounded. Why can’t we help people when they first need assistance? 
  
  For whatever reason, we don't like to "unfuck" people. Like when people say "let's not forgive all this student debt, let's focus on the REAL culprit of X, Y or Z." What is implied is that these people who were fooled and/or are fucked in some kind of way are simply written off. Oh well, sucks to suck! So it becomes like the socio-economic version of the ETMALA. Oh, they'll stabilize your condition so you don't starve, perhaps. But beyond that, you're on your own. Millions of people in the same situation? Sorry, still have to earn your keep. It's wearing you down? Tough shit! I worked hard, and look at me! My shit doesn't stink at all anymore! Really, it's a brutal place, that we've allowed ourselves to get to. >
  
  Damn ya’ll are mean! The 17 year old teen found out he’s gonna be a father. Going to guess it’s a young teen pregnancy. This father was going to kill himself due to the fear but this officer saved him. She also saved this future kid from not having a father. >
  
  Jeez, what a fucking tone deaf comment to make >
  
  It's not tone deaf. People are replying to my post and comments saying life never gets better. >
  
  Clearly you made this thread with the best of intentions. >
  
  I didn't. I actually wanted to spread something positive. But it's upsetting seeing the replies I was getting from certain individuals on how life never gets better. >
  
  It doesn't.  Ever. My brain isn't capable of it. No medicine I have tried has helped. Therapy. My own bridge. It doesn't. You just hop from little ember of brightness to dying ember. Again and again. Just hoping there's another light somewhere you can make out in the dark to head towards. 
  This dude 17, about to live the rest of his life poor, exhausted, depressed, scared out of his mind for the rest of his life he won't be able to keep his kid fed and warm. 
  You know something stupid like 60% of this country barely makes it from one payday to the next? You know even as much as the bottom 80% could be sent into irreversible poverty by a single critical illness or accident? 
  So now, we get to sit here and be subjected to this Puff piece about a cop, let's see, oh, doing their job instead of killing people, that's nice. 
  Did that kid make a mistake? Probably. Is 17 too early to say its the end of the world? Maybe. 
  Is it all going to get better? Probably fucking not. Not for him at least.
  Edit: yes, yes, down vote me harder, that will fix the mental health crisis in this country. That will fix the lack of social support in this country. The fact. Over half the country barely survives. You're all doing such a good job proving me wrong.
  For what it's worth... you don't have to always see the next ember. You just have to have it in you to walk in the dark for a little while. 
  It's a hard walk. You want to spread positivity? Don't share news stories about cops doing their bare minimum, advocate for better mental health services in this country. Advocate for a better living wage in this country so 17 year olds aren't terrified their child will starve. 
  Advocate for better sex education and reproductive services in this country, so 17 year olds don't have to be parents in the fucking first place. 
  There's so many better uses of your time than 'cop does job, child nervously accepts becoming parent' >
  
  You just predicted this kid's whole future in such a predetermined way. I get you have your own experiences, but you can't use them to predict another person's life story. 
  The guy is 17. I'd think my life is over at that age if I was having a baby. 
  But this kid has his whole future ahead of him. Everything you said is based on statistics and your lived experience, but there are always exceptions and people who overcome. Even people in poverty can find happiness. I know it's tough. I have been there. 
  But saying a kid's life won't get better when the alternative is death and not being there for his own child is wild. >
  
  Where the hell did they assume that? >
  
  Looks like this was in Memphis, where they made abortion illegal under all circumstances last August.  One can only guess in situations like this because the mother/ her family could certainly be personally against abortion and may have elected not to go the route anyway.  But the fact cannot be understated that, regardless of what choice the mother would have made, she NO LONGER HAS THAT CHOICE PERIOD. And here this child is attempting to end his life thanks to the pressure of becoming a parent too young. >
  
  Also Memphis, whose PD is probably looking to do some intense PR work and reputation management just about now. >
  
  When do things get better? I'm 35 and still holding onto that belief except things keep getting worse & worse. >
  
  I’m probably the worst representation of “getting better” - most days I very much would appreciate getting hit by a bus and I am no stranger to still hurting myself but I recently kicked a habit of taking down (2) 1.75L’s of 190 Everclear a week and to that end my cognition has improved significantly.  
  I’ve always tried to approach things very objectively and in doing so I essentially prohibited myself from enjoying things as they are - instead of a benchmark in which to improve from.   
  It’s said again and again how music has saved someone’s life but Proper Dose by The Story So Far did that for me. I hope you’ll consider giving the entire album a listen sometime - the lyrics are really heavy. >
  
  Couldn’t even read the article there are so many ads >
  
  last news site i went on, it had 3 modal window popup and had to close them just to read the text.
  i really wish there was a browser that just nuked all that kind of annoying shit and give you just the text/images. but i guess it'll be hard to do iuno
  i feel like web pages back in 2005s or so were just way more simpler to read. now it's just gone berserk >
  
  
  According to the Memphis Police Department, officers responded to a call regarding a person on the edge of a bridge on Interstate 40 Thursday.
  
  Some good news for once with Memphis PD after the horrific murder of Tyre Nichols. >
  
  The amount of dipshits in the comment section fucking baffled me. This kid was suicidal and that cop did an amazing job by “protecting and serving”. You cruel, unappreciative douchebags. >
  
  One good deed does wash all the horrible shit they do. Sorry, this person showed goodness inspite of his profession not because of it. >
  
  The moral of the story is; 
  A kid did not kill himself and cause a fucking disaster and a never ending suffering behind him by doing so. And that happened because someone in a police uniform decided to be a human. Yes, she did her human deed regardless of her job but despite all the horrible shit done by the police force, she showed how it’s supposed to be done.
  We love focusing on the wrongest shit possible. The kid is alive. That is it. Be thankful for once. >
  
  Can we not be thankful and critical at the same time? >
  
  I don’t get what is being criticized at this point. The news topic is not about police violence in general but it’s about a woman who happened to wear a police uniform, doing something nice for a troubled teen who was actually on the verge of suicide. 
  We go apeshit on people when they do something bad or against our morals but we also shit on them massively when they try to do a good deed. It is impossible to please people. >
  
  Part of the issue could be the expectation that everything has to add up to a single unified judgement about this person's moral worth, or even that every criticism that references her is necessarily about her.
  The criticism of the media presenting police as heroic and a force for good in society, by way of showcasing these stories, is not a criticism of this person, but rather of the media failing to contextualize the story, and via omission of that context, validating a false narrative in regards to the larger societal issues of policing. 
  This person did a good thing. They also have a job that is problematic. Neither discounts the other, but presenting only one fails to address the public's interest. >
  
  This is great and I’m so happy for the outcome but is anyone else reflexively adverse to empty promises like “things will get better.” They make me shudder a little bit because the person saying that doesn’t know it to be true. I get that just the language itself can be soothing for some people but not the case with me. Interested in hearing other peoples thoughts >
  
  I mean things, presumably can get better than "about to jump off a bridge" >
  
  Fair point. But people throw this language out all the time, bridge or no bridge. >
  
  Things may not necessarily get better, but if you work on yourself, your coping strategies will improve, allowing you to exist in the same or worse environments without feeling the need to end it. 
  Ultimately, that’s the goal. If we depend on things around us to get better before we feel happy, we are setting ourselves up for failure. We cannot control external circumstances, but we can control ourselves. “I do not wish for an easy life. I wish for the strength to endure a difficult one.”
  I hope what I said makes sense. I will say though, that this is very challenging for most people to articulate. I have a Master’s in psychology and have experience of being in therapy myself for over a decade. This is a really high standard to expect from friends, family, and strangers. Most people do not have the kind of time or even the intellectual capacity it takes to get that level of expertise. I can’t expect most people to have a Master’s in mathematics and do advanced calculus. 
  That said, your feelings are valid. It is difficult to feel, (it sounds like) unseen or that people aren’t able to meet you where you are. It’s difficult to feel like others are dismissive or unhelpful. It is difficult when we have high degrees of empathy, especially when that empathy has been used to care take for others in so many situations, and even more so when we had to do so at a young age for adults that should have been models for us instead of sucking our emotional energy. It’s painful to see others go through pain and not recieving the highest quality of help that our standards would provide.
  Edit: Btw, I was a drummer too! I loved it and it’s cool we have that in common. :) >
  
  Drummer - cool! Yes everything you said makes sense, but I guess what I’m saying is how you worded it just now seems like a more valid thing to say than just stating “things will get better.” You’re honest and descriptive. It feels helpful and substantive rather than quick and convenient. But the honesty is the most important thing - “listen, life is hard and will remain difficult, but you have the power and ability to endure it comfortably by doing x y and z, and even those things will take practice, but you’re also capable of mastering them as well.” That makes the difference for me in whether or not I believe it. Obviously just my perspective though. Thanks for the insight. >
  
  The Memphis Police Department? You mean the same police department that beat Tyre Nichols to death last month? Weird that a fluff piece for that specific police department would be circulating now. But I keep getting told that copaganda isn’t a thing and that only the bad stuff regarding law enforcements gets reported on. Oh well, I’m sure it’s just a coincidence.