Most of us, in Southern California, grew up in a horizontal environment. Maybe a second floor. Maybe.

But, generally, we lived in the ‘burbs, in one-story homes, and to fling ourselves from the highest point of the building involved somehow climbing on the roof, and a leap was more an act of daring or stupid bravado involving boys or young men (think Jackass) that might lead to a leg injury.

Not so in the UAE, and particularly in Dubai, where life very often is vertical, very vertical, and when someone gets it in their head to end it all, it is as easy as walking off the balcony — as we learned anew in this sad story in The National.

If you did not follow the link, the story is about a murder-suicide. A 27-year-old woman, from India, was unhappy in her marriage; she accused her husband of having an affair.

While the husband was out, his wife decided to throw herself from their 11th-story apartment, and did. Which is bad enough, but took her 12-month-old son with her. Both died.

Makes you wonder whether she and the child would be alive today if they were living in, say, Lakewood, California.

In a way, skyscrapers could be seen as another method of suicide. One that requires no tools, can be acted upon in an instant and is over in a few seconds.

Just an awful story. And perhaps reinforces my thought that a horizontal city is kinder and gentler.