Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - Tie your shoelaces, you'll trip and break your neck...

NoSoup · 01-31-2006, 12:06 PM

I'll suppose I can share a couple of stories...

This one ends victoriously, so I'll share it first...

When I was in high school one afternoon, I was in the halls for some reason during class. I was in a hurry, and as I was running down the stairs I turn the corner at the end of the flight to go down another and stepped on my shoelace just as I was about to begin going down the next flight.

Let me preface this part by saying that I am not a Ninja. Nor do I have any outstanding athletic or gymnastic ability - I doubt I could ever do it again. However, just this once, Karma was on my side...

It's a bit of a blur because it happened so fast, but as I began to fall face first off the top of the stairs I "pushed off" with my foot, keeping myself relatively perpendicular to the ground. It wasn't really controlled, though, and because I had done it while I was so off balance I began spinning. This wasn't a remarkably fast spin, but I was going fast enough I had no idea where my feet were going to land. To make a long story short, I somehow managed to stay on my feet, skipping steps two or three at a time, landing on them backwards, sideways, or with my feet on different stairs. I was certain that reality was going to come crashing down and I was going to land in a painful pile at the bottom of the stairs, but low and behold, I got to the bottom still on my feet. I looked up, and there was a teacher standing at the door directly across from the stairs, looking at me with an awestruck look. Both she and half the class sitting behind her had witnessed the event, and began to clap. I took a bow, and went on to wherever I was going...

This second story isn't so much about my clumsiness as it is just how unaware I was caught... I was younger, probably 12 or 13 when it happened...

It was early afternoon, and I was minding my own business crossing a relatively busy street that I had crossed a million times before - only this time, it was under construction. As I walked, I must have been daydreaming, but I was in for a rude awakening. I was roughly halfway across the street when suddenly I felt like I had tripped - but it wasn't like any tripping I had done before. I didn't feel my leg or foot hit anything, and I was falling straight down. I can't even begin to tell you how paniced and confused I felt at that moment. As I was swallowed up by the ground I scraped my leg pretty nastily. I fell approximately 10-12 feet, and landed on my feet/ass. Looking up, I see a circular circle of light cutting through the darkness around me. It suddenly dawned on my - I had fallen into the sewer. Immediately I jump up from the ground and imagine I'm covered in raw feces and I'm going to die of the most terrible infection. Upon closer inspection, I realize that I am, in fact, in a storm sewer, and raw sewage isn't a concern for me. Looking up, there is absolutely no way for me to get out of there - contrary to hollywood portrayal, not all sewers have ladders in them. I waited around for a bit, but apparently noone had seen me fall in. I spent the next hour or so wandering around in cramped, pitch black tunnels until I finally stumbled across a ladder. The worst of it, though, was that I could hear rodents near me but couldn't see anything in the pitch black. Although the manhole cover was heavy, I had so much adrenaline pumping through my body that I practically threw it off in my effort to get free. I got a couple of strange looks from people as I climbed out from the sewers, covered in filth. Fortunately, a younger guy took pity on my and helped me put the cover back over the hole - unfortunately, he smashed his finger while doing so.

Anyway, nowadays I keep my eye on the ground...

01-31-2006, 12:06 PM	#20 (permalink)
NoSoup Non-Rookie Location: Green Bay, WI	I'll suppose I can share a couple of stories... This one ends victoriously, so I'll share it first... When I was in high school one afternoon, I was in the halls for some reason during class. I was in a hurry, and as I was running down the stairs I turn the corner at the end of the flight to go down another and stepped on my shoelace just as I was about to begin going down the next flight. Let me preface this part by saying that I am not a Ninja. Nor do I have any outstanding athletic or gymnastic ability - I doubt I could ever do it again. However, just this once, Karma was on my side... It's a bit of a blur because it happened so fast, but as I began to fall face first off the top of the stairs I "pushed off" with my foot, keeping myself relatively perpendicular to the ground. It wasn't really controlled, though, and because I had done it while I was so off balance I began spinning. This wasn't a remarkably fast spin, but I was going fast enough I had no idea where my feet were going to land. To make a long story short, I somehow managed to stay on my feet, skipping steps two or three at a time, landing on them backwards, sideways, or with my feet on different stairs. I was certain that reality was going to come crashing down and I was going to land in a painful pile at the bottom of the stairs, but low and behold, I got to the bottom still on my feet. I looked up, and there was a teacher standing at the door directly across from the stairs, looking at me with an awestruck look. Both she and half the class sitting behind her had witnessed the event, and began to clap. I took a bow, and went on to wherever I was going... This second story isn't so much about my clumsiness as it is just how unaware I was caught... I was younger, probably 12 or 13 when it happened... It was early afternoon, and I was minding my own business crossing a relatively busy street that I had crossed a million times before - only this time, it was under construction. As I walked, I must have been daydreaming, but I was in for a rude awakening. I was roughly halfway across the street when suddenly I felt like I had tripped - but it wasn't like any tripping I had done before. I didn't feel my leg or foot hit anything, and I was falling straight down. I can't even begin to tell you how paniced and confused I felt at that moment. As I was swallowed up by the ground I scraped my leg pretty nastily. I fell approximately 10-12 feet, and landed on my feet/ass. Looking up, I see a circular circle of light cutting through the darkness around me. It suddenly dawned on my - I had fallen into the sewer. Immediately I jump up from the ground and imagine I'm covered in raw feces and I'm going to die of the most terrible infection. Upon closer inspection, I realize that I am, in fact, in a storm sewer, and raw sewage isn't a concern for me. Looking up, there is absolutely no way for me to get out of there - contrary to hollywood portrayal, not all sewers have ladders in them. I waited around for a bit, but apparently noone had seen me fall in. I spent the next hour or so wandering around in cramped, pitch black tunnels until I finally stumbled across a ladder. The worst of it, though, was that I could hear rodents near me but couldn't see anything in the pitch black. Although the manhole cover was heavy, I had so much adrenaline pumping through my body that I practically threw it off in my effort to get free. I got a couple of strange looks from people as I climbed out from the sewers, covered in filth. Fortunately, a younger guy took pity on my and helped me put the cover back over the hole - unfortunately, he smashed his finger while doing so. Anyway, nowadays I keep my eye on the ground... __________________ I have an aura of reliability and good judgement. Just in case you were wondering...