Some things you just can't make up.
May 26, 2005 2:57 AM Subscribe
Canadian suicide hotline stops its 24 hour service and adopts a 9-to-5 format. Apparently, people only feel like killing themselves at work. Located via Fark.
P.E.I. has a government that makes poor decisions...? wow.. I'm sure glad stuff like that doesn't happen here in the good old u s of a!
oh...wait....never mind.....
posted by HuronBob at 4:07 AM on May 26, 2005
oh...wait....never mind.....
posted by HuronBob at 4:07 AM on May 26, 2005
oh...wait....never mind.....
Haha... you guys are a riot. It only took three comments to bring this thread right back around to just how much the U.S. sucks. Move.
posted by Witty at 5:02 AM on May 26, 2005
Haha... you guys are a riot. It only took three comments to bring this thread right back around to just how much the U.S. sucks. Move.
posted by Witty at 5:02 AM on May 26, 2005
Metafilter surrenders.
Seriously, does anyone even read Fark anymore? I mean, I like drinking beer and looking at boobies too... but I don't need to commiserate about it ten times a day with a bunch of former frat boys.
posted by wfrgms at 6:00 AM on May 26, 2005
Seriously, does anyone even read Fark anymore? I mean, I like drinking beer and looking at boobies too... but I don't need to commiserate about it ten times a day with a bunch of former frat boys.
posted by wfrgms at 6:00 AM on May 26, 2005
wfrgms writes "Seriously, does anyone even read Fark anymore?"
It's a pretty good newsfilter (the idea of a Fark RSS feed seems somewhat... redundant). That being said it's really been shifting to the right wing recently.
posted by clevershark at 6:03 AM on May 26, 2005
It's a pretty good newsfilter (the idea of a Fark RSS feed seems somewhat... redundant). That being said it's really been shifting to the right wing recently.
posted by clevershark at 6:03 AM on May 26, 2005
Well, to be fair, it was pretty dead around there after about 2 AM.
posted by nofundy at 6:05 AM on May 26, 2005
posted by nofundy at 6:05 AM on May 26, 2005
Well, to be fair, it was pretty dead around there after about 2 AM.
::rimshot::
posted by qwip at 6:14 AM on May 26, 2005
::rimshot::
posted by qwip at 6:14 AM on May 26, 2005
Seriously, does anyone even read Fark anymore?
Eh, after all the erudition and wit of MeFi, the crassness and vulgarity of Fark can be quite refreshing, and vice versa. I imagine there's plenty of crossover between the two sites, despite the juvenile "rivalry," some people like to believe exists between them.
posted by jonmc at 6:34 AM on May 26, 2005
Eh, after all the erudition and wit of MeFi, the crassness and vulgarity of Fark can be quite refreshing, and vice versa. I imagine there's plenty of crossover between the two sites, despite the juvenile "rivalry," some people like to believe exists between them.
posted by jonmc at 6:34 AM on May 26, 2005
This made me think of this comic, which was much more amusing than the article.
posted by graymouser at 6:36 AM on May 26, 2005
posted by graymouser at 6:36 AM on May 26, 2005
US Army recruiters would be happy to man the phones during those off hours.
Just cause you are from Canada doesn't mean they can't find a way to sneak you in.
posted by Balisong at 6:51 AM on May 26, 2005
Just cause you are from Canada doesn't mean they can't find a way to sneak you in.
posted by Balisong at 6:51 AM on May 26, 2005
clevershark,
I don't think it's that it's shifted so much as they keep posting inflammatory headlines. The same thing would happen to metafilter if it was so blatantly for profit. They just post whatever gets people to keep coming back and flinging poo in the comments.
that said, Fark's pretty good for news, useless for comments.
posted by slapshot57 at 6:55 AM on May 26, 2005
I don't think it's that it's shifted so much as they keep posting inflammatory headlines. The same thing would happen to metafilter if it was so blatantly for profit. They just post whatever gets people to keep coming back and flinging poo in the comments.
that said, Fark's pretty good for news, useless for comments.
posted by slapshot57 at 6:55 AM on May 26, 2005
Is it possible that the 9 to 5 decision was simply a publicity ploy to get the public outraged and call for the reinstatement of the full budget? I'm sure the staff at the hotline understands full well the idiocy of maintaining a suicide hotline during business hours only.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 7:23 AM on May 26, 2005
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 7:23 AM on May 26, 2005
In a desperate attempt to bring the thread back to the topic....
Maybe 9-to-5 isn't so stupid after all. God knows there are plenty of days when being at the office makes me want to kill myself.
[joke, joke, please don't e-mail me]
posted by GrammarMoses at 8:06 AM on May 26, 2005
Maybe 9-to-5 isn't so stupid after all. God knows there are plenty of days when being at the office makes me want to kill myself.
[joke, joke, please don't e-mail me]
posted by GrammarMoses at 8:06 AM on May 26, 2005
slapshot57 writes "I don't think it's that it's shifted so much as they keep posting inflammatory headlines."
When they put up obvious flamebait with a powerline link on the front page last week I thought to myself "that's it with Fark." Mind you the constant influx of Weekly World News links already had me a little skeptical...
posted by clevershark at 8:36 AM on May 26, 2005
When they put up obvious flamebait with a powerline link on the front page last week I thought to myself "that's it with Fark." Mind you the constant influx of Weekly World News links already had me a little skeptical...
posted by clevershark at 8:36 AM on May 26, 2005
wfrgms writes "Seriously, does anyone even read Fark anymore? I mean, I like drinking beer and looking at boobies too... but I don't need to commiserate about it ten times a day with a bunch of former frat boys."
I do, for the same reasons as jonmc. I wish more Metafites would, so we could cut down on the cross pollenization.
posted by Mitheral at 8:48 AM on May 26, 2005
I do, for the same reasons as jonmc. I wish more Metafites would, so we could cut down on the cross pollenization.
posted by Mitheral at 8:48 AM on May 26, 2005
wfrgms : "Seriously, does anyone even read Fark anymore?"
In MetaFilter, Fark comes to you!
/Yakov
posted by graventy at 8:49 AM on May 26, 2005
In MetaFilter, Fark comes to you!
/Yakov
posted by graventy at 8:49 AM on May 26, 2005
Apparently, people only feel like killing themselves at work.
That's me, all right.
posted by The Card Cheat at 8:50 AM on May 26, 2005
That's me, all right.
posted by The Card Cheat at 8:50 AM on May 26, 2005
I stopped even thinking about glancing at Fark after that whole paid ad placement in the links with no notification bullshit.
This is interesting and newsworthy enough for a post here, I think.
The Card Cheat, see I don't feel like killing myself at work, just everyone around me and no, I don't work at the Post Office.
posted by fenriq at 10:53 AM on May 26, 2005
This is interesting and newsworthy enough for a post here, I think.
The Card Cheat, see I don't feel like killing myself at work, just everyone around me and no, I don't work at the Post Office.
posted by fenriq at 10:53 AM on May 26, 2005
The hotline received about 1,400 calls a year and about 50 were from people contemplating suicide, health groups said.
If they're open year-round, it comes to around 4 calls a day, and one suicide crisis per week. That requires two phonelines. I can run an operation like this from my apartment. Don't tell me they can't manage it.
posted by ori at 11:35 AM on May 26, 2005
If they're open year-round, it comes to around 4 calls a day, and one suicide crisis per week. That requires two phonelines. I can run an operation like this from my apartment. Don't tell me they can't manage it.
posted by ori at 11:35 AM on May 26, 2005
I'm sure the staff at the hotline understands full well the idiocy of maintaining a suicide hotline during business hours only.
The bulk of calls received on crisis hotlines are not from people in a suicidal crisis. Most come from people looking for information on suicide, from people in some other sort of crisis, or from consistent callers (OCs who use the line as a crutch).
PEI has 137,000 inhabitants. Compare that to the population of US cities that don't have their own hotlines. I've volunteered at crisis centers for over 13 years now and even I would question the cost-effectiveness of maintaining a facility that gets as few calls as this one.
Closing this hotline would not necessarily mean that PEI would not have access to a hotline. I've seen cases where smaller crisis centers would forward their after-hours calls to a larger center. Some state-run mental health facilities would subcontract their after-hours calls to crisis centers. Many calls to crisis centers are forwarded from the police department if they don't have a trained officer who can respond.
posted by joaquim at 12:51 PM on May 26, 2005
The bulk of calls received on crisis hotlines are not from people in a suicidal crisis. Most come from people looking for information on suicide, from people in some other sort of crisis, or from consistent callers (OCs who use the line as a crutch).
PEI has 137,000 inhabitants. Compare that to the population of US cities that don't have their own hotlines. I've volunteered at crisis centers for over 13 years now and even I would question the cost-effectiveness of maintaining a facility that gets as few calls as this one.
Closing this hotline would not necessarily mean that PEI would not have access to a hotline. I've seen cases where smaller crisis centers would forward their after-hours calls to a larger center. Some state-run mental health facilities would subcontract their after-hours calls to crisis centers. Many calls to crisis centers are forwarded from the police department if they don't have a trained officer who can respond.
posted by joaquim at 12:51 PM on May 26, 2005
dflemingdotorg, that's interesting. I didn't know that was the situation. I am an Israeli expat living in Vancouver, so my news intake divides into 85% Israeli news, 10% Vancouver/BC news and about 5% for Canada. Didn't know the situation in PEI was so dire.
posted by ori at 1:18 PM on May 26, 2005
posted by ori at 1:18 PM on May 26, 2005
Man, just put Van Halen's "Jump" on the hold music after 5pm.
posted by klangklangston at 1:24 PM on May 26, 2005
posted by klangklangston at 1:24 PM on May 26, 2005
ori not really a question of "managing" it, there is also costs associated with training people, office supplies, phone lines, possible long distance charges, an office to operate this service out of. A lot of crisis lines are largely supported by volunteers so $30,000 is nothing to run something like this (about $5 per person per year) in comparison to the economic loss if such a service didn't exist. Joaquim sure you can farm it out to other locations (been done here) but sometimes proximity to the person in crisis matters, people who are in Vancouver on the hotline with be far more knowledgeable about services in Vancouver than say services available in Kitimat.
Its all screwy anyway, CMHA get millions every year and spends it on lame ass projects like making pamphlets in order to avoid a fiscal claw back of a million dollars the next year. Provincial bureaucrats fly from harbour to harbour in order to do business cause the ferry is "too slow" UGH ... don't get me started on wasteful health care spending.
posted by squeak at 2:41 PM on May 26, 2005
Its all screwy anyway, CMHA get millions every year and spends it on lame ass projects like making pamphlets in order to avoid a fiscal claw back of a million dollars the next year. Provincial bureaucrats fly from harbour to harbour in order to do business cause the ferry is "too slow" UGH ... don't get me started on wasteful health care spending.
posted by squeak at 2:41 PM on May 26, 2005
Witty, I have a great bumper sticker for you. I made it months ago, actually.
I am too chicken to put one on my car, though.
posted by beth at 3:22 PM on May 26, 2005
I am too chicken to put one on my car, though.
posted by beth at 3:22 PM on May 26, 2005
Closing this hotline would not necessarily mean that PEI would not have access to a hotline. I've seen cases where smaller crisis centers would forward their after-hours calls to a larger center. Some state-run mental health facilities would subcontract their after-hours calls to crisis centers. Many calls to crisis centers are forwarded from the police department if they don't have a trained officer who can respond.
posted by joaquim at 12:51 PM PST on May 26 [!]
Outsourse it to India like my Adelphia customer service.
Oh, Wait.. You mean Discourage suicides.
posted by Balisong at 5:58 PM on May 26, 2005
posted by joaquim at 12:51 PM PST on May 26 [!]
Outsourse it to India like my Adelphia customer service.
Oh, Wait.. You mean Discourage suicides.
posted by Balisong at 5:58 PM on May 26, 2005
dflemingdotorg writes "This is a government that relies on federal transfers as its major source of revenue, outside of very volatile industries; farming, fishing and tourism."
I've heard rumors to the effect that meth labs have become a non-negligible sector of the PEI economy. Any truth to that?
posted by clevershark at 7:04 PM on May 26, 2005
I've heard rumors to the effect that meth labs have become a non-negligible sector of the PEI economy. Any truth to that?
posted by clevershark at 7:04 PM on May 26, 2005
I've heard rumors to the effect that meth labs have become a non-negligible sector of the PEI economy. Any truth to that?
The moonshine makers are just diversifying.
/wants off this island. Now.
posted by Space Coyote at 7:55 PM on May 26, 2005
The moonshine makers are just diversifying.
/wants off this island. Now.
posted by Space Coyote at 7:55 PM on May 26, 2005
Man, just put Van Halen's "Jump" on the hold music after 5pm.
Aztec Camera's cover of the same song. "Suicide is Painless" a.k.a. the M*A*S*H theme. Ozzy's "Suicide Solution." And lots of Morrissey...
posted by kindall at 11:02 PM on May 26, 2005
Aztec Camera's cover of the same song. "Suicide is Painless" a.k.a. the M*A*S*H theme. Ozzy's "Suicide Solution." And lots of Morrissey...
posted by kindall at 11:02 PM on May 26, 2005
I know I'm just being silly, but I'd like to think P.E.I. didn't need a suicide hotline, because it's just such a wonderful place everyone would be happy there.
The whole economy thing has hit the whole Maritimes. I don't really understand it all, myself. Halifax seemed to be coming back, but maybe it's just that family farming can't sustain the economy any more. Which is a shame, because P.E.I. shouldn't be just tourists and rich cottagers.
posted by jb at 11:18 PM on May 26, 2005
The whole economy thing has hit the whole Maritimes. I don't really understand it all, myself. Halifax seemed to be coming back, but maybe it's just that family farming can't sustain the economy any more. Which is a shame, because P.E.I. shouldn't be just tourists and rich cottagers.
posted by jb at 11:18 PM on May 26, 2005
There are only about 1900 real "farmers" left on the Island.
When you look at the nice old farm houses and countless churches you can see that people used to have it fairly well here, when you were a farmer and you were paid for what your work was worth, but that old-fashioned idea has gone and a couple of giant french fry factories have taken its place.
posted by Space Coyote at 12:28 AM on May 27, 2005
When you look at the nice old farm houses and countless churches you can see that people used to have it fairly well here, when you were a farmer and you were paid for what your work was worth, but that old-fashioned idea has gone and a couple of giant french fry factories have taken its place.
posted by Space Coyote at 12:28 AM on May 27, 2005
Space Coyote - I know, my grandfather left the island because he couldn't get work there. His father's family had farmed there for generations.
posted by jb at 7:43 AM on May 27, 2005
posted by jb at 7:43 AM on May 27, 2005
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posted by thedevildancedlightly at 3:13 AM on May 26, 2005