I can hardly bear reading through all of the replies here. This is a terrible tragedy and tremendous loss for these men's families.
IMO if a lot of us are really honest with ourselves, many or even most of us have been on a little shaky ground mental health-wise at some point. The job is mentally, physically, and emotionally punishing and a lot of people have learned how to navigate all of that successfully from somewhere. Unfortunately, some people never get the connection.
I saw Mr. Joe's name as soon as they released it and looked at his facebook before it was taken down. He was a handsome guy with a pretty wife and beautiful young daughters. He was also very devout Christian as some of the media has reported. He had more scripture and spiritual quotes and stuff in his albums than he did family pics. I really get the feeling he was a regular guy. But I would have to say he was extremely religious, or was trying to be. And I say this here because, IMO, no "balls to the wall" extreme is truly healthy, no matter what extreme it is.
So the guy was definitely off his rocker, just by his actions today. To me it looks like he was struggling for answers. The world is a freaking scary place especially if you have others depending on you. Fear, plus the rage he must've felt... I mean he must've felt wronged, treated unfairly. More on that later.
Any person worth his weight in morality that has done this job for more than a couple months has felt that rage. For the sake of taking one for the team, I have felt that rage. If I were to act on it I can say with blessed assurance that I wouldn't physically harm anyone else, because I would turn on myself first. But I can draw the line between feeling and acting because I am AWARE of my feelings and where they come from.
I'm not excusing him at all. I see it as my responsibility to myself and my family to stay safe, and to do that sometimes I have to face some hard facts.
Our company and those managers were in no way responsible for this man's actions. But we are all responsible for our own mental health and understanding and communicating about mental illness as a society. Do they go too far? Yes. They get downright mentally and emotionally abusive at times. A lot of times. But you know that about them and you choose to stay and cope and hopefully grow and become a better person for whatever reasons you have, or you move on to some other situation that has its own ups & downs.
They are in this business not to help us or society but to be a giant money making machine. That Is All. You have contracted your body to them, and that #%$& AIN'T NEVER GONNA BE FAIR. They could certainly make a lot of improvements that would make everything better for everyone. If you can bear to look at them in a parental or somehow personal manner, you know you can't change anyone who doesn't believe they need to change. And when I say "Them" I'm talking about people we never see, because our sups and managers and even a couple above them are in a similar boat. Really.
All I'm saying is pay attention to yourself, to others, and communicate. Find a reason to be hopeful.
These are my opinions. Others are available.
lol.
