Oh yeah, you can tell people all kinds of stuff if you get bored enough with telling the real story. One day after I had to tell the story five times in a row (!) I just came up with about a dozen options that I thought sounded more interesting. Of course, when people inevitably say, "Really?" I'd relent and tell them the truth. I'm such a wuss sometimes. It's just that "skiing accident" is so cliche. I almost might have got a little more entertainment value out of "doing the laundry." And then you could just leave it at that, you know, not mention the part about the stairs or anything. You could just tell them with a really serious face like laundry is scary business, and see how they react.
