Suicide Part 2: Doing It Right

Tell me you haven't thought about it? Seriously. One day one your way to work, you just disappear. Maybe you let someone see you over the weekend sailing off the coast in a dinghy. At some point everyone wants to run away from the pressure and responsibility. Since I talked about the very serious issue of suicide last week, I would like to lighten up this Saturday for my monkeys trapped in their cubicle cages.

Today is the day we give props to our good friend and role model, Arthur Gerald Jones. Earlier this week Jones plead count of fraud stemming from a July arrest in Nevada. In case you don't know Artie, you might know him Joseph Richard Sandelli. That is the name he's been using lately. Lately referring to the brief period of time since he faked his death to get away from The Outfit. Also known as, the last thirty years.

Turns out our buddy Art once held a prized seat at the Chicago Board of Trade. After making a trading mistake his debts got out of hand. He wound up having to sell his seat to cover his ass.

The story has a happy end, however. None of that boo-hoo shit for Artie, I mean Joey. My man got himself the real exit op. None of that hedge fund crap for him. What Arthur Gerald Jones did is what every man, great or miniscule in status and stature dreams about at one point or another. He just walked away. Surely, we can look at this as a story of human tragedy and shame. We won't.

This is not a cautionary tale, but a celebratory one. Yes, ambition and goals and achievement sit atop the alter in front of which we all worship. The ultimate power in life, however, lies in being able to get up and go. To be completely free or your past mistakes. To be reborn in a sense. To have a second lease on life. More than anything, to do whatever the fuck you want.

We all give up a lot to be ourselves; our secure, safe, sociable, society selves. Here's to the guys who leave it all behind. Here's to the guys who kill themselves so they can live again.