“1990 The Night After a Really Bad Day By David Zayas I used to be a New York City police officer, for 15 years. I worked in Hell’s Kitchen in the ’90s during the 6 p.m.–to–early morning shift. One night, a guy tried to commit suicide by jumping from his fifth-floor window. I was on patrol, and I saw it in my rearview window. I heard the thud, and I was like, “Oh my God!” I call the ambulance, I go over to the guy, and he gets up! And I’m like, “Stay down!” And he’s like, “No, no, I can’t be here,” and he starts to walk away. I had to stay with him all night long. I learned that he was a professor, and he had just gotten a terminal-illness diagnosis that day, and his wife left him, and he lost his job — all on the same day! So he decided that was too much. He tried to take pills, but he passed out, and he woke up throwing them up. He tried to cut his wrists, but apparently he didn’t go deep enough, and he just passed out again. He was looking for a gun, but his wife took it when she left him. So he jumped. The good news is, ten years later, I ran into him on the train, and he told me he’s fine. ”