Foiled by Garbage

I’ve always felt that anybody who’s brave enough to jump off a building and commit suicide is brave enough to face whatever it is in life that’s got them by the short hairs. I’m serious. Have you ever looked over the side of a tall building? I’m telling ya, that’s not for the squeamish.

And that’s why I think what happened to 26-year-old Vangelis Kapatos of New York City can only be filed in the “I think your suicide idea was pure rubbish” file.

The guy was pretty depressed after a month in Bellevue Hospital’s psychiatric ward. Released just after Christmas, his next worry was possible ejection from his ninth-story, rent-stabilized apartment because he couldn’t afford the $572 rent.

So he did what he thought was his only way out … he jumped.

What he didn’t figure on was the huge pile of bagged garbage on the street below, part of the 77,000 tons of trash the city hadn’t been able to pick up since the post-Christmas storm left more than 18 inches of snow on city streets.

Wham! Or should I say, Whomp! He landed in the garbage. Today, he’s in the hospital … critical but stable.

I kid you not. I hope someone helps him pay the rent.