Today I came home from shopping to see a dead body in the street outside my apartment building. Just lying there face down in the rain. Lots of people were gathered around and a fire truck was pulling up. Apparently he had just jumped from a balcony in my building. 
Eek. I’m sorry that happened to you. Be prepared to feel quite shocked for a while, that might happen to you. Hope it’s no one you know.
Instead of saying “Sorry that happened to you,” might I say, instead, “Sorry you witnessed that.” I’ve never seen anything like that myself, but I can imagine that it was unsettling and a shock to have seen. A violent death has to be about the worst thing to happen to a person and their loved ones, but your trauma is not to be dismissed lightly, and you do have my sympathy as witnessing this had to be upsetting.
High school: A body under a sheet outside of a 7-11, seen from the bus.
College: A body under a sheet in the middle of the road. (Motorcyclist. Woman turned left in front of him.) They lifted the sheet and I could see his face.
Mojave Desert, east of Baker: Bodies scattered around, under sheets, in the hot desert sun. Couldn’t help but think of all of the hungry insects.
Los Angeles, Sepulveda Pass, and Lynnwood, WA, 5N @ Alderwood Mall: Didn’t see the bodies, but (successful) jumpers made my commutes nightmares.
Excuse me? Are you saying I was “dismissing” this lightly? WTF?
xoferew, apparently my phrasing has offended someone, but you have all my sympathy.
Thanks, but though I was disturbed I’m certainly not trying to make myself out as the victim here. I just feel bad for the people who were crying in the street who obviously knew the guy, and the little kids who had to walk by as their parents tried to get them not to look. And somehow it seems really sad that he should have to lie there in the rain and be stared at by strangers while people complain about the traffic tie up.
That’s terrible. I wonder what that poor person was going through…
Now the police have reported that it was a twenty-one year old man who was smoking a drug called salvia when he jumped off the balcony. I guess it’s something hallucinogenic?
Holy cow! What a terrible thing for everyone involved.
I once saw a jumper land on a car. To this day, I remember the horrified look on the driver’s face.
Angel of Doubt, I apologize. I certainly didn’t mean to imply you took this lightly. In fact, I was going at it from the opposite perspective that what happened to the poor person who died was actually worse than what could have happened to anyone who witnessed the aftermath. My concern was rather that I might have seemed dismissive of what xoferenew had the misfortune to witness. And xoferenew took it in the perspective that I offered, that while the event was disturbing, sympathies should go all around, for the victim and his loved ones as well as the bystanders. I was not offended by your post, nor did I mean to imply you took it too lightly. I was afraid that I might seem dismissive, and not you. Sometimes it’s hard for me to find the proper phasing to communicate properly what I mean. I’m sorry that you thought that I was referring to you, as that was certainly not my intent.
Again, my apologies for the misunderstanding.
Are you in New York? I don’t know why (well, I guess I do), but that was my first preconception.
I’m sorry you had to witness that. It sounds horrible.
My brother-in-law had a heart attack and died on the sidewalk while he was walking his dog last weekend. No idea how long his body lay there until someone saw him, called the police, and the police came to collect him. The dog went home without him (obviously) and my step-sister and nephew walked all around the neighborhood to try to find him, but didn’t. When they finally gave up and went home, there was a note on the door from a police sergeant that they had found him and to please call the precinct, so it must not have been too long. I feel sorry for whomever stumbled across him and realized he was dead.
Oh, okay. Sorry for the hairtrigger reaction and the (implied) cussing. I should have kept rein on my reaction (and fingers) and maybe the context you gave would have become clear. I don’t recall you ever writing an inflammatory post!
No problem. Thank you for understanding.
@ Shayna: I am terribly sorry for the loss of your BIL.