Beer Deliverymen Prevent Suicide

                For Kwame Anderson and Jason Gaebel, it wasn’t just another workday. The two are beer deliverymen who drive a semi-truck around the Twin Cities area servicing their route. Recently, after taking a wrong turn, they spotted a man clinging to the opposite side of a chain-link fence on a tall bridge over I-94 in St. Paul. As they approached the man, Gaebel, who was driving, asked him: “Bro, you all right?” and added “Come on this side, bro.” To which the man replied, “I am going to commit suicide. Watch me fly.”

                At this point, Anderson called 911 and got out to try to coax him off the ledge. He later told KMSP-TV, “I’m thinking it’s either I help this guy or he’s going to jump,” and “I gotta keep this guy entertained somehow because if I wait for the police, things could be over.” Anderson talked to the man for an hour straight, discovering that his name was Leroy, he lived just four blocks away and he had children. Anderson offered the man food and money, but those offers were refused. Finally, Anderson said, “Do you want to have a drink with me?” The man paused, so Anderson added, “Yeah? A beer?” The would-be jumper said “Maybe.” Progress.

                Anderson ran back to the truck and grabbed a 12-pack of Coors Light, opened it, and lured Leroy to a safe area. Leroy was transported to the hospital by emergency personnel.

                Gaebel told KARE11-TV: “I don’t know why I did this. I take a left and I go toward the bridge but usually we always go straight. We have a route that we do every Wednesday and that wasn’t the way I would normally go. It wasn’t part of the plan, but it was God’s plan.”

                Anderson agreed, but added that it wasn’t just the Lord’s will that kept the man from jumping, stating: “Coors Light saves lives.”

                Coors Light is marketed as “The Silver Bullet,” due in part to the silver cans in which it’s packaged.

                One of the definitions of “silver bullet” is: “A simple and seemingly magical solution to a complicated problem.”

                The Lord works in mysterious ways.

                 I’ll drink to that.

                Here’s to Gaebel and Anderson!