Painful mistake - lesson learned

[Jolly Blue Giant]

Yesterday I was in Syracuse and had to gas my car. I stopped at one of the original Byrne Dairy gas stations, so it's old with greasy concrete that is worn and rough. To make a long story short, I used the little flipper on the handle so I could leave the nozzle in the gas tank as it was filling up, so I could clean the windshield

Here's where stupidity steps up and makes itself known to all. I hurriedly went to the back of the car, stepping over the hose...but I didn't clear it. All my momentum was going forward, making it worse. I tried to catch myself and in about a nanosecond, my life flashed before my eyes and the realization hit me that I am going all the way down...face first and hard. I stretched my head back at the last second to protect my face while reaching with my left hand for the car, but all I got was air. When I opened my eyes, my hat was gone and my nose was touching concrete. Several people came running, and a little old lady asked me if I was hurt as I laid on the ground on my belly...embarrassed as hell. I told her that I thought I was okay, but would probably hurt by nighttime and the next day. She said, she could see my hand was bleeding, and I told her I'd be alright. A nice young fella came over to help me get up, and I told him I can do it, but he insisted on helping. Other people were very concerned about my condition and were asking all kinds of questions and worried about me

Anyway, when you think the world is full of assholes and humanity is a bygone quality of the human race...it isn't. People really do care about others...even complete strangers. Today I am in all kinds of pain. I think I might have cracked a couple of ribs and my left wrist and fingers on my left hand are in so much pain I can't play my guitar, and I have a scratch on the end of my nose. I think my ego took the biggest bruise...how stinking embarrassing. I feel like an idiot 

[Ed Vette]

It could have been lot worse. Happy you're still here to tell the story. It could have happened to anyone.

[Sem]

Sorry to hear about our tumble Ric. As Ed says, it could've been a lot worse. I hope you heal quickly, and are strumming on the ol' guitar soon.

[Jolly Blue Giant]

Thanks, Ed and Steve. It's unusual for a guy to show empathy when another guy screws up. I told my best friend last night about what happened, and he practically rolled on the floor laughing. Even though he literally could not stop laughing, he said he'd done the exact same thing, but wouldn't tell anyone...lol. The female side of the human race is so much more sympathetic. I remember when I was remodeling my house, and trying to drive a nail into a 2X4 made of hickory (which is hard as steel, it seems). After bending several nails that wouldn't go in the wood, I decided to wail the hammer hard. And of course, all I hit was my thumb and I split it lengthwise. There was blood on a wall 10' away. Talk about painful. It swelled up as big as another member of a guy's body

Anyway, every freaking guy I knew laughed until tears came to their eyes. Yet every woman that saw my thumb and asked what happened went into immediate sympathy, hugging me, telling me how sorry they were, etc. I guess guys laugh because they've all done the same stupid thing they are seeing. Hell, I'd laugh if my buddy showed me how he smashed his hand with a hammer. 

[LennG]

Ric

First of all, glad it was more embarrassing than hurtful, even if you are hurting.

AND, I sure don't mean to make light of this, but as I was reading your post, I can see myself doing the exact same thing. I have to hold onto something just to get my leg into my pants, so getting clumsy and old isn't any fun. I truly worry about falling all the time lately. We have arranged our house so as to make moving about a lot easier, like making pathways a bit more roomy, etc. We 'older' folks need all the help we can get.

Anyway, feel better, my friend, and YES, there ARE good people all over. It just takes something like this to help them remember that.

[MightyGiants]

I recall taking a rather bad tumble on rollerblades a few years back (I gave that up in my early 50s).  As I lay on the ground, my brain was like a warship that had just taken a hit, instructing all stations to check in with damage and status.  As I lay there taking a mental inventory, a father and his young son came up to me, with the young boy saying, "Mister, are you okay?"  I appreciate that they had the best of intentions and should be praised for their caring, but all I wanted to do was crawl off into a hole and be left alone.  I mumbled an "I am OK, thank you," but really, I just wanted to be left alone to lick my wounds.  Thankfully, other than some scrapes, bumps, and bruises, I was okay.


Ric,

You might want to go to the doctor and get yourself checked out.  When we hit a certain age, we don't bounce back like we used to.  As for falling, we all do it at some point.  Still, as my story illustrates, I get the whole embarrassment factor. 

[Jolly Blue Giant]

Ric

First of all, glad it was more embarrassing than hurtful, even if you are hurting.

AND, I sure don't mean to make light of this, but as I was reading your post, I can see myself doing the exact same thing. I have to hold onto something just to get my leg into my pants, so getting clumsy and old isn't any fun. I truly worry about falling all the time lately. We have arranged our house so as to make moving about a lot easier, like making pathways a bit more roomy, etc. We 'older' folks need all the help we can get.

Anyway, feel better, my friend, and YES, there ARE good people all over. It just takes something like this to help them remember that.

Funny you should mention that as my best friend and I were out at one of our drinking holes discussing aging. He brought up that putting on his pants is a challenge anymore...this from a guy who was ranked world wide as a squash pro and had super balance. He said he has to hang onto a door frame or sit down to put his pants on because he just didn't have the balance anymore. BTW, we are both 72 and in similar decline. I still put my pants on while standing on one leg, but what gets my goat is how the opposite pant leg likes to flip up and go down the pants hole so I have to start over...lol

[Jolly Blue Giant]

Ric,

You might want to go to the doctor and get yourself checked out.  When we hit a certain age, we don't bounce back like we used to.  As for falling, we all do it at some point.  Still, as my story illustrates, I get the whole embarrassment factor. 

Thanks Rich...you sound just like my daughters (one is a nurse) and my ex-wife (she's an NP) this morning, insisting I go get checked out. Maybe I should, but like my Dad, I have to be near death to go to the doctors

[LennG]

Funny you should mention that as my best friend and I were out at one of our drinking holes discussing aging. He brought up that putting on his pants is a challenge anymore...this from a guy who was ranked world wide as a squash pro and had super balance. He said he has to hang onto a door frame or sit down to put his pants on because he just didn't have the balance anymore. BTW, we are both 72 and in similar decline. I still put my pants on while standing on one leg, but what gets my goat is how the opposite pant leg likes to flip up and go down the pants hole so I have to start over...lol

        

          

[MightyGiants]

Balance is an import thing for seniors to work on




Seniors: Best 10 Exercises to improve Balance and Walking: : Complete Course

[Jolly Blue Giant]

I went through a DWI checkpoint once (no, I wasn't drunk nor have I ever driven drunk - in fact, the last time I over-imbibed was St. Patrick's Day in the year 2000, and I said, never again...and I haven't)...anyway, one of the tests I was given was to "stand on one leg looking straight up with your eyes closed and bring your finger down to touch your nose". I said, "you're kidding, right?". He said "no". BTW, it's harder than you think, even if you've never had a drink in your life. The next test was, "I'm going to start a stop watch, and you tell me when to stop, and you need to stop when it's 30 seconds". I thought..."no problem...I'll count 1000, 2000, 3000, etc. in my mind", except I couldn't because the cop asked me about my job, how many kids I had, how many miles on my car, etc. When I said "stop", he moved on. I asked him how close I was and he wouldn't tell me. Then I asked him, "how close do you have to be for it to indicate someone is impaired?" Again, he ignored the question and told me to blow in a breathalyzer. So I did, and after looking at it told me, "get out of here", so I left. It was a weird night

But that balance test - I passed it, but I couldn't pass that now on my best day!

And when I fell yesterday, it wasn't due to balance issues. I was rushing and I misjudged how high the hose was

[Ed Vette]

Thanks, Ed and Steve. It's unusual for a guy to show empathy when another guy screws up. I told my best friend last night about what happened, and he practically rolled on the floor laughing. Even though he literally could not stop laughing, he said he'd done the exact same thing, but wouldn't tell anyone...lol. The female side of the human race is so much more sympathetic. I remember when I was remodeling my house, and trying to drive a nail into a 2X4 made of hickory (which is hard as steel, it seems). After bending several nails that wouldn't go in the wood, I decided to wail the hammer hard. And of course, all I hit was my thumb and I split it lengthwise. There was blood on a wall 10' away. Talk about painful. It swelled up as big as another member of a guy's body

Anyway, every freaking guy I knew laughed until tears came to their eyes. Yet every woman that saw my thumb and asked what happened went into immediate sympathy, hugging me, telling me how sorry they were, etc. I guess guys laugh because they've all done the same stupid thing they are seeing. Hell, I'd laugh if my buddy showed me how he smashed his hand with a hammer. 

The thing about men, is they don't hold back. Women will go, I'm so sorry, OMG, thoughts and prayers, I can't imagine, blah, blah, blah. And then gossip and mock to their friends. Lol

[squibber]

I'm sorry for your fall and I hope you will feel better.

I did something stupid when I was 20. I was playing softball. I was running towards home plate as the throw was coming in to the catcher. The catcher caught the ball and I decided to jump up to avoid the tag. The catcher tagged me hard on my ankle and I flipped over. My wrist hit the ground hard and it totally broke. Bad decision.

[DaveBrown74]

Ric,

First off, I am very sorry you had this experience.

Secondly, I am glad it wasn't worse.

Thirdly, and maybe most importantly, believe me, if this accident qualifies as "stupid" for you, you're way, way ahead of the game.

Jeff

[MightyGiants]

The thing about men, is they don't hold back. Women will go, I'm so sorry, OMG, thoughts and prayers, I can't imagine, blah, blah, blah. And then gossip and mock to their friends. Lol

I can verify from my 3 decades plus as an EMT.  If a young guy (with his friends) gets injured (especially doing something ill-advised) his friends would always be busting his chops.  As Ed said, women were different; they are always concerned about their friend's well-being (although admittedly there were far fewer calls, in fact off the top of my head I can't think of a single one, of women getting hurt doing something stupid)