Holy $#*^! faceplant, Batman...

[chanaleh]

This morning at about 7:15, I was trotting down Prospect St. trying to catch my subway so I could make my train... and I tripped and fell on my face. On the sidewalk.

No bleeding, no bone broken from what I can tell, but I bet it's going to bruise up nicely over the course of today. There's just a little visible abrasion on my left eyebrow (where my hair tends to cover it anyway), and my cheekbone has swelled up just enough that I can see it out of the corner of my eye. So everything's a bit tender there (to say the least; I probably could use an icepack, come to think of it). But my teeth seem okay and such, and I managed to miss my nose, so I think I got off pretty easily all things considered.

The guy who was walking behind me (whom, in fact, I had just passed in my hurry to get by, so it's a freaking lucky thing I didn't fall into the street in the first place) did not even PAUSE to see if I was okay, just kept on walking. Jerk! I think that upset me as much as anything else. :-P I wasn't in any pain to speak of, but so rattled that I was in tears all the way to South Station. (Doing fine now. Also, caught the commuter rail with no problem, thank goodness.)

However, I also seem to have broken my Treo (which was in my left front coat pocket, so I basically landed right on it). There's no visible damage to the screen, but it won't power up. I have a spare phone at home, but won't get back to that until tonight, so don't bother trying to call or SMS me.
EDIT: Duuude! I managed to reset the Treo and it works!!! What a relief! -- However, my eye is getting steadily more swollen; between that and the kohl-like red streak emanating from the corner, I could have gone as Cleopatra for Purim a couple days ago. :-/

Comments

[saxikath]

Ow!! Glad it wasn't worse, but yes, you should put something cold on your face -- it'll help keep swelling and bruising down, even if nothing's broken.

[mixedborder.livejournal.com]

Gah, what a horrible start to the day. And what a jerk.

[awfief.livejournal.com]

*hugs*

great story. We know tiger boy beats you.

"What do you tell a woman with 2 black eyes?"

"nuthin', she's already been told twice already!!!"

Just kidding [yes yes abuse isn't a laughing matter. I know, firsthand, OK, and the joke still makes me smile]. Anyway, glad you're OK, and here's hoping the Treo is OK (try banging it again, maybe it'll jostle whatever back into place).

[c1.livejournal.com]

I'm glad that you didn't take much damage. That guy will get his, I'm sure.

[chanaleh.livejournal.com]

great story. We know tiger boy beats you.

Bwahaha. He's never even raised his voice to me in a year and a half, and he'll probably be horrified that someone would even write this in jest. :-)
*waves*

All the same, though, I *am* a little glad that there is visible abrasion instead of just bruising and swelling: "Pavement! Honest to God!"

But speaking of smacking things around, I do still have to try some percussive maintenance on the Treo.

[donnad.livejournal.com]

Ouch, I hope you'll be okay.
Definitely get some ice and some ibuprofen, it'll help with any pain and swelling. You'll probably feel it in your neck and shoulders later from the muscle strain, heading it off with Ibuprofen will help.

Some people are jerks.

[magid.livejournal.com]

Ouch! A refuah shlaimah to you, and nth-ing the recommendation for ice and ibuprofen.

Last time I fell like that, I broke a finger; I'm very glad you're mostly intact.

[msmidge.livejournal.com]

Ditto what everyone else says about ice & hope you feel better soon.

If you bought the Treo on a credit card you might be able to use automatic extended warranty to get it replaced, if it really is broken. My Palm died within a couple weeks after its one-year warranty was up, but AmEx gave me my money back because they had a double-warranty deal that I didn't even know about when I bought the thing.

[sweetmmeblue.livejournal.com]

*hugs* that really sucks when the gremlins reach up and grab us like that. R'fuah shlemah

[infinitehotel.livejournal.com]

Ow!!! Sympathies for the face, the human yuckage (geez, who doesn't stop when someone smacks down like that?) and the dead Treo.

Janet, having really fair Irish skin, used to get the most astonishing sets of bruises from karate. Unloading groceries, I had the odd experience of getting stared daggers by the clerks and the women in the checkout line. "Leave him honey, cuz he ain't worth it, uh-uh!" :)

feel better!

[musicjill.livejournal.com]

yeah, face plants hurt even on mats! (the only place I've done it).

yeah on not hurting/breaking your nose!!

sorry to hear about the jerk :(

be kind to yourself- falling well is really hard; I've only just started to practice it.

[besamim.livejournal.com]

Man, that sucks. I hope the swelling goes down rapidly and smoothly and that there's no further damage.

I had a similar "what a jerk" experience in 1997 when I fell off a loading dock onto asphalt, breaking and dislocating my left shoulder. As I screamed "OW!" a few times in the alley, I noticed a couple of women passing by, looking at me, and smiling as they passed. What's so funny, I couldn't help thinking.

Much later, my dad attempted to put the best spin possible on their reaction (which is usually my mom's thing: my dad likes to mock her benefit-of-the-doubt approach with "Hitler wasn't so bad; he built good roads"). He reminded me that falls do often look funny to observers, which is why they're a staple of slapstick comedy even though, as he admitted, if people slip on a banana peel and fall in real life, they could seriously injure or even kill themselves depending on how and where they land. Still. Those women were jerks, and so was that guy. Though I don't wish that he'll "get his." (*gentle finger wag*)

[dragonfriek.livejournal.com]

If the Treo's not under warranty anymore I'd be happy to take a look at it for you-- I've expanded my repertoire of Small Electronics What I Know Too Much About The Taking Apart And Fixing And Mostly Putting Back Together Of to include phones, treos in particular. And I haven't gotten a peep at you in far too long. :)

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

Ow, that's horrible. The same thing happened to me in Central Square several years ago. I fell flat and was hurt pretty badly. and several people just walked on past, seeming irritated that they had to step around me.

It's a Boston thing. So sorry it happened to you.

[stevie-stever.livejournal.com]

Kind of bizarre that the dude didn't stop. Even a casual "You alright?" wouldn't have been difficult, even in passing.

Oh well.

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Yikes! I hope you feel better soon. And I agree with those above who say ice and analgesic.

I've had a couple of "what a jerk" experiences. And one very lovely opposite experience. mabfan and I were walking one shabbat to a friend's house in Brighton Center for lunch. We'd walked past Kadima Toras Moshe to see if we could catch up with them at shul (but we'd missed them by just a bit), so we were walking down the hill that is Washington St., near St. Elizabeth's Hospital. It had snowed Friday afternoon/night, so there was a lovely layer of ice all along the sidewalk (since, of course, no one had shoveled and then lots of people had tromped along and tamped down the snow). As we walked down the hill, I slipped on the icy sidewalk and fell directly onto my bad knee. A couple randomly driving up the hill who had witnessed my fall pulled over to find out (a) if I was OK and (b) if I wanted a ride anywhere. mabfan helped me up, we thanked the couple, and they and we continued on our respective ways.

[besamim.livejournal.com]

No, it's a Toronto thing too. Hell, it's a human thing. Unfortunately.

[caulay.livejournal.com]

Owie!

Sorry to hear about your fall, nth-ing the ice and ibuprofen recommendations.

[greenlily.livejournal.com]

Owwww. Yes, definitely at least put a nice cold water bottle on it. And Walk-On-By Man's karma will most surely come around and bite his sorry ass.

[trowa-barton.livejournal.com]

Glad to know that it wasn't serious. It could have been much worse.

[chanaleh.livejournal.com]

when I fell off a loading dock onto asphalt, breaking and dislocating my left shoulder.

Eee-yahhh! That sounds truly heinous.

Though I don't wish that he'll "get his." (*gentle finger wag*)

Oh, I think those have all been predictions of karmic payback, rather than wishes for same.

[gosling.livejournal.com]

Ouch. I'm glad you aren't hurt too badly, and I hope your Treo turns out to be repairable.

[ceo]

Reminds me of the time I was walking across the UMass campus reading the paper, and I glanced up just in time to avoid colliding with a lamppost. Then I saw a guy across the way snap his fingers in disappointment. Thanks a lot, buddy.

Here's hoping for rapid healing.

[spwebdesign.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure ice is really going to help the Treo any, BUT … I suppose some electronics do work better in colder conditions. ;) I'm glad to hear things weren't worse than they were.

[chaiya.livejournal.com]

*sympathy*