Monday, May 4, 2009

Strange Incidents – Accidents 2: With Ladders.

In reply to an earlier post: “ Strange incidents – Accidents 1.” I received the following reply from my American blogger friend, Lynx.
It reads: “Here's one for you. It was one of my last few days on the job before I was moving away from home. It had rained the day before, so when I went to change my convenience store's gas sign (we had to manually remove the plastic numbers), the pole's rubber suction cup just wasn't sticking. So I went to get the ladder to climb up and remove the numbers so I could get the new ones up. Well wouldn't you know, the ladder gave from underneath me as I'm switching numbers. Luckily I grabbed onto the skinny@rse rod that we used to hang the pole off of, as we got ready. Luckily a customer saw me and grabbed me so I could let go and not fall to the ground! Now granted, I wasn't that high up, but I was high enough I would've definitely broken bones had I lost my grip! Can you imagine driving 1300 miles all casted up? HAHAHA! Glad I had a customer pumping gas right as it happened!”
Although I have spent most of my secular working life in the Retail industry, I have at various times done a few jobs involving ladders and the outdoors environment. Either painting or general orchard work, and there, either pruning or fruit picking, both of which involves quite a bit of ladder work. Yet, despite much usage of ladders and more than a few spills, I really haven’t had too many thrills or any real damage, apart from the odd bruise here or there.
In fact the most interesting incident with a ladder was when odd Jobbing on an Orchard at Warrandyte shortly before heading of to South Africa in 1990. And like most of m incidents with ladders, it was caused by having the ladder on an un-even surface. I was up about 20 feet on the sloping side of a weatherboard house painting it, when the ladder slowly slipped sideways. Fortunately it, surprisingly, slipped uphill and not downhill! Anyway it slid along the weatherboards and onto the window. Much to my surprise and amazement, the thin glass did not break: then. Eventually the ladder slid right across the glass until it stopped up against the window frame, still without breaking the Glass! However at that point, collecting myself and still hanging onto the tin of paint and the paintbrush, I shifted my weight to climb down the Ladder. That is when the Glass Gave way!
So then I had to stop painting and buy and replace the Glass. Not that I could have done anything about it then, but isn’t it funny how often when we get away with something one wouldn’t normally expect too, that we try and push our Luck just a little further and come unstuck? Perhaps you too are pushing your luck a little too far today? Maybe not with a shaky Ladder or a ladder on uneven ground, but maybe there is something in your life where you just need to step back and not push your luck! Otherwise you just may not be as Lucky as Lynx and I.
What’s you funniest/ worst/ luckiest incident with a ladder or even ladder substitute?

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