The weirdest thing that ever happened to you?

[Marv's Neighbor]

Witnessed a Mob Hit in Miami in 1968, ended up in witness protection in Buffalo.

[Gugny]

Whilst walking the streets of midtown Manhattan, my wife, son and I witnessed a man having a heart attack.

 

A police car stopped at the side of the street, very close to where we were walking.

As soon as the car stopped, a man came out of a bar/tavern clutching his left side.

They rushed him into the back seat, didn't even secure him, and took off.

This happened at least three years ago and I think of it often.

I wonder if he lived. There's no way of knowing.

What I remember most is the look on his face. 10% pain; 90% fear. It was so sad to see.

Seeing the look on someone's face when, presumably, they think they're about to die unexpectedly ... it's heavy.

[Chef Jim]

Witnessed a Mob Hit in Miami in 1968, ended up in witness protection in Buffalo.

Whoa. Worked at a "mob" restaurant in Miami in 1982. We referred the the late night crowd as the "cocaine cowboys". Weirdest clientele. The blue hairs would line up at 5 for the early bird special and the Columbians would roll in after midnight and the Dom would flow. Damn those were long shifts.

[4merper4mer]

So anyway when I looked behind me people were dropping like flies. It was like a wall of death right there in behind me right where they drop the ball on New Year's Eve.. So I ran. I ran fast and ran right past this parade where a dude named Carol was the grand marshall and it wasn't Archie Bunker. I only saw the banner quickly and might have some of the details wrong. I was running fast. Anyway I bumped right into this dude who was smoking a cigarette. He had mega long fingernails and I fell. When I was getting up i looked at his shoes. That said "Elvis". Needless to say I ran faster. I ran right into an apartment building to protect myself from the goings on outside but what I saw in there haunts me to this day. I wish I hadn't gone in.

 

 

Finally when I ducked into that apartment house I thought things would be fine, but it was some sort of upscale crackhouse/garment factory. There were kids everywhere at what appeared to be their home. They were playing with the used needles from the crack people and the pins from the garment workers. Needles and pins! There were too many of them for me to do anything. It was like a giant swarm of kids.

 

I left and decided to run toward the cloud wall because it seemed like there was no escape. I ran right into and through it. Once I did, it shattered and everything was back to the way it had been.

 

I know this whole thing was pretty unusual but the moral is there is good and bad that can come from everything.

 

The bad:

I am haunted by these memories and the thought that this incident was not somehow documented in history. There were a lot of people there.

I will always wonder what happened to those kids.

I will always regret not slapping that cheerleader that was flinging stuff at me.

The sheer terror is something I feel every day.

 

 

The good:

When i went back through the wall a lot of things changed. I learned to master portholes and wormals from that point forward which has netter me a Googlebot and many other benefits which I cannot disclose.

Nothing, and I mean nothing scares me anymore.

I pretty much think I am prepared for anything after experiencing that. You have to take the good and the bad, the scary and the calm....life is about you, not the things that are happening around you.

 

Neutral:

I have noticed that I no longer age since the incident. This has its ups and downs but it is mostly good. I am in high demand with the ladies and make lots of $$$$$ but it is tough watching friends and relatives wither away or have things happen to them like with Geno. I am still the same age as when that happened and it was October 2, 1981!

[boyst]

Do you cry when you see sunsets?

Ha ha ha ha ha.

 

No one watched porn with their HETEROSEXUAL buddies?

Actually we do want to know.

 

Wait im freaking out now. maybe tomorrow.

The weirdest thing that has EVER happened to you was seeing a girl 6 years later at a kmart???

6 years later randomly appearing in a Kmart, that i met for 3 minutes and over 4.5 hours away in a totally different location that is middle of no where.

Dude, that's what they invented Ashley Madison for.

I made a rule 3 years ago no to not break in to someones marriage. i haven't broke it but one time since.

[Deranged Rhino]

6 years later randomly appearing in a Kmart, that i met for 3 minutes and over 4.5 hours away in a totally different location that is middle of no where.

 

 

... That's not all that strange. Surely there must have been weirder events in your life than seeing someone twice.

 

 

Finally when I ducked into that apartment house I thought things would be fine, but it was some sort of upscale crackhouse/garment factory. There were kids everywhere at what appeared to be their home. They were playing with the used needles from the crack people and the pins from the garment workers. Needles and pins! There were too many of them for me to do anything. It was like a giant swarm of kids.

 

I left and decided to run toward the cloud wall because it seemed like there was no escape. I ran right into and through it. Once I did, it shattered and everything was back to the way it had been.

 

I know this whole thing was pretty unusual but the moral is there is good and bad that can come from everything.

 

The bad:

I am haunted by these memories and the thought that this incident was not somehow documented in history. There were a lot of people there.

I will always wonder what happened to those kids.

I will always regret not slapping that cheerleader that was flinging stuff at me.

The sheer terror is something I feel every day.

 

 

The good:

When i went back through the wall a lot of things changed. I learned to master portholes and wormals from that point forward which has netter me a Googlebot and many other benefits which I cannot disclose.

Nothing, and I mean nothing scares me anymore.

I pretty much think I am prepared for anything after experiencing that. You have to take the good and the bad, the scary and the calm....life is about you, not the things that are happening around you.

 

Neutral:

I have noticed that I no longer age since the incident. This has its ups and downs but it is mostly good. I am in high demand with the ladies and make lots of $$$$$ but it is tough watching friends and relatives wither away or have things happen to them like with Geno. I am still the same age as when that happened and it was October 2, 1981!

 

Now that you can portal, were you behind inventing this?:

 

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/magnetic-wormhole-created-in-lab/

[4merper4mer]

...

 

Now that you can portal, were you behind inventing this?:

 

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/magnetic-wormhole-created-in-lab/

Portals and wormholes are not that useful. I have mastered portholes and wormals like I said.

[Deranged Rhino]

Portals and wormholes are not that useful. I have mastered portholes and wormals like I said.

 

You don't find the ability useful at all? Instant transport, no more shipping costs for sending beerball on errands, even Sven has to enjoy the convenience of that particular mode of travel.

[4merper4mer]

 

You don't find the ability useful at all? Instant transport, no more shipping costs for sending beerball on errands, even Sven has to enjoy the convenience of that particular mode of travel.

 

Beerboy ain't fitting through no wormhole without something getting strained. Now a wormal I can fit a Mack truck through easily. That is all I can disclose. And clam up on Sven. You do remember what Beerboy did to him don't you? At least Beerboy is responsible anyway.

 

Anyway this thread is about weird stories. Do you have something as weird as mine? I mean I left a few little details like the part with the guy cracking bad jokes and chomping on a cigar but I covered the important parts.

[Nanker]

I became a Bills fan. Yep. Definitely the weirdest thing that ever happened to me.

[mead107]

Back many years ago I parked in this guys lot out in orchard park and fell in love. Still in love

[Deranged Rhino]

 

Beerboy ain't fitting through no wormhole without something getting strained. Now a wormal I can fit a Mack truck through easily. That is all I can disclose. And clam up on Sven. You do remember what Beerboy did to him don't you? At least Beerboy is responsible anyway.

 

Anyway this thread is about weird stories. Do you have something as weird as mine? I mean I left a few little details like the part with the guy cracking bad jokes and chomping on a cigar but I covered the important parts.

 

I have had more than a few odd experiences and encounters. I've got a pretty good ghost story, a handful of bizarre sightings that would probably best fall in the UAP category, and I've worked some weird jobs in a very weird town populated largely by people who make their livings off their weirdness. So... how much time ya' got?

[4merper4mer]

I have had more than a few odd experiences and encounters. I've got a pretty good ghost story, a handful of bizarre sightings that would probably best fall in the UAP category, and I've worked some weird jobs in a very weird town populated largely by people who make their livings off their weirdness. So... how much time ya' got?

I told you that I stopped aging years ago didn't I?

 

Edit: I tried to look up UAP and found "Unlicensed Assistive Personnel" which sounds an awful lot like "hooker" to me. It is fine to share your stories here but please keep it clean.

Edited August 23, 2015 by 4merper4mer

[4merper4mer]

Merged version of my weird story:

 

Do any of you guys have a story about something totally bizarre that happened to you? I have one. It was so weird I have a hard time even thinking about it. I will try to tell it here but will probably have to take breaks and tell it in pieces because I find that when I talk about it I get too freaked out. Here goes:

I was in NYC. Specifically Times Square. It started out normally but then the wind picked up and suddenly there was a cloud that descending right down upon us. It was like a balloon just floating down. No one seemed to care. They carried on like nothing was there. Then....I can't go on right now I'm too freaked out. I'll try to continue later.

Any stories from you guys?

Well the thing is I get freaked out in so many ways. When I was typing I was about to point out that there were sirens wailing and I think they shut down the ports. That reminded me of the other time when I heard the ambulance and its siren screaming down Main Street and I had temporarily gotten over this incident so I didn't give it a thought. It turns out my uncle Geno was in that thing and I still feel guilty. Maybe I should let it go because I was trying hard to ignore the sirens because they reminded me of the story I'm telling now. There was so much else about that day.....I'm getting freaked out again.

So anyway it was weird that nobody was noticing, but I noticed so I started running toward Columbus Circle. I was boo coo scared, The wind was picking up and there was dirt and dust flying around making it hard for me to see. I didn't want to look back but what I was looking at as I moved forward was no prize. It was bizarre. Almost like an alternate reality. I'm freaked out again.

Anyway as I went down the street there were these weird mean jerky guys at a food cart dressed in sheets. The food cart's special that day was something called ham hocks and Hoppin John. I don't know what that is and I stayed away from it but something smelled like peaches. It might have been the hoppin john. I'm not sure. Anyway the dirt and dust was really blowing now. I was sweating a lot and so it all stuck to my skin and there was a lot of it. I was starting to have trouble moving then I saw all these broads wearing sunglasses. I didn't know what to do........sorry getting freaked out again.

So anyway while I was frozen with dirt and dust caked to me and desperate to move along comes this young chick in a skirt and a letter sweater singing sis boom nah and holding a can of something that says "Blue Diamond" on it. She opens up that can and eats something.....says "Ewwwwwww!!!!!! bitter bitter bitter" and starts flinging these little things at me using a stick with a star at the top. Well it sounds rude but it was actually good luck as it broke me free from the crust and I was able to run again.

I look behind me and you don't want to know what I saw. So i kept running.

When I thought the worst was over I came upon...............sorry. I can't right now. My heart is racing just thinking about it.

So anyway when I looked behind me people were dropping like flies. It was like a wall of death right there in behind me right where they drop the ball on New Year's Eve.. So I ran. I ran fast and ran right past this parade where a dude named Carol was the grand marshall and it wasn't Archie Bunker. I only saw the banner quickly and might have some of the details wrong. I was running fast. Anyway I bumped right into this dude who was smoking a cigarette. He had mega long fingernails and I fell. When I was getting up i looked at his shoes. That said "Elvis". Needless to say I ran faster. I ran right into an apartment building to protect myself from the goings on outside but what I saw in there haunts me to this day. I wish I hadn't gone in.

Finally when I ducked into that apartment house I thought things would be fine, but it was some sort of upscale crackhouse/garment factory. There were kids everywhere at what appeared to be their home. They were playing with the used needles from the crack people and the pins from the garment workers. Needles and pins! There were too many of them for me to do anything. It was like a giant swarm of kids.

I left and decided to run toward the cloud wall because it seemed like there was no escape. I ran right into and through it. Once I did, it shattered and everything was back to the way it had been.

I know this whole thing was pretty unusual but the moral is there is good and bad that can come from everything.

The bad:

I am haunted by these memories and the thought that this incident was not somehow documented in history. There were a lot of people there.

I will always wonder what happened to those kids.

I will always regret not slapping that cheerleader that was flinging stuff at me.

The sheer terror is something I feel every day.

The good:

When i went back through the wall a lot of things changed. I learned to master portholes and wormals from that point forward which has netter me a Googlebot and many other benefits which I cannot disclose.

Nothing, and I mean nothing scares me anymore.

I pretty much think I am prepared for anything after experiencing that. You have to take the good and the bad, the scary and the calm....life is about you, not the things that are happening around you.

Neutral:

I have noticed that I no longer age since the incident. This has its ups and downs but it is mostly good. I am in high demand with the ladies and make lots of $$$$$ but it is tough watching friends and relatives wither away or have things happen to them like with Geno. I am still the same age as when that happened and it was October 2, 1981!

[Beerball]

Merged version of my weird story:

 

Do any of you guys have a story about something totally bizarre that happened to you? I have one. It was so weird I have a hard time even thinking about it. I will try to tell it here but will probably have to take breaks and tell it in pieces because I find that when I talk about it I get too freaked out. Here goes:

 

I was in NYC. Specifically Times Square. It started out normally but then the wind picked up and suddenly there was a cloud that descending right down upon us. It was like a balloon just floating down. No one seemed to care. They carried on like nothing was there. Then....I can't go on right now I'm too freaked out. I'll try to continue later.

 

Any stories from you guys?

 

Well the thing is I get freaked out in so many ways. When I was typing I was about to point out that there were sirens wailing and I think they shut down the ports. That reminded me of the other time when I heard the ambulance and its siren screaming down Main Street and I had temporarily gotten over this incident so I didn't give it a thought. It turns out my uncle Geno was in that thing and I still feel guilty. Maybe I should let it go because I was trying hard to ignore the sirens because they reminded me of the story I'm telling now. There was so much else about that day.....I'm getting freaked out again.

 

So anyway it was weird that nobody was noticing, but I noticed so I started running toward Columbus Circle. I was boo coo scared, The wind was picking up and there was dirt and dust flying around making it hard for me to see. I didn't want to look back but what I was looking at as I moved forward was no prize. It was bizarre. Almost like an alternate reality. I'm freaked out again.

 

 

 

Anyway as I went down the street there were these weird mean jerky guys at a food cart dressed in sheets. The food cart's special that day was something called ham hocks and Hoppin John. I don't know what that is and I stayed away from it but something smelled like peaches. It might have been the hoppin john. I'm not sure. Anyway the dirt and dust was really blowing now. I was sweating a lot and so it all stuck to my skin and there was a lot of it. I was starting to have trouble moving then I saw all these broads wearing sunglasses. I didn't know what to do........sorry getting freaked out again.

 

 

So anyway while I was frozen with dirt and dust caked to me and desperate to move along comes this young chick in a skirt and a letter sweater singing sis boom nah and holding a can of something that says "Blue Diamond" on it. She opens up that can and eats something.....says "Ewwwwwww!!!!!! bitter bitter bitter" and starts flinging these little things at me using a stick with a star at the top. Well it sounds rude but it was actually good luck as it broke me free from the crust and I was able to run again.

 

I look behind me and you don't want to know what I saw. So i kept running.

 

When I thought the worst was over I came upon...............sorry. I can't right now. My heart is racing just thinking about it.

 

So anyway when I looked behind me people were dropping like flies. It was like a wall of death right there in behind me right where they drop the ball on New Year's Eve.. So I ran. I ran fast and ran right past this parade where a dude named Carol was the grand marshall and it wasn't Archie Bunker. I only saw the banner quickly and might have some of the details wrong. I was running fast. Anyway I bumped right into this dude who was smoking a cigarette. He had mega long fingernails and I fell. When I was getting up i looked at his shoes. That said "Elvis". Needless to say I ran faster. I ran right into an apartment building to protect myself from the goings on outside but what I saw in there haunts me to this day. I wish I hadn't gone in.

 

 

Finally when I ducked into that apartment house I thought things would be fine, but it was some sort of upscale crackhouse/garment factory. There were kids everywhere at what appeared to be their home. They were playing with the used needles from the crack people and the pins from the garment workers. Needles and pins! There were too many of them for me to do anything. It was like a giant swarm of kids.

 

I left and decided to run toward the cloud wall because it seemed like there was no escape. I ran right into and through it. Once I did, it shattered and everything was back to the way it had been.

 

I know this whole thing was pretty unusual but the moral is there is good and bad that can come from everything.

 

The bad:

I am haunted by these memories and the thought that this incident was not somehow documented in history. There were a lot of people there.

I will always wonder what happened to those kids.

I will always regret not slapping that cheerleader that was flinging stuff at me.

The sheer terror is something I feel every day.

 

 

The good:

When i went back through the wall a lot of things changed. I learned to master portholes and wormals from that point forward which has netter me a Googlebot and many other benefits which I cannot disclose.

Nothing, and I mean nothing scares me anymore.

I pretty much think I am prepared for anything after experiencing that. You have to take the good and the bad, the scary and the calm....life is about you, not the things that are happening around you.

 

Neutral:

I have noticed that I no longer age since the incident. This has its ups and downs but it is mostly good. I am in high demand with the ladies and make lots of $$$$$ but it is tough watching friends and relatives wither away or have things happen to them like with Geno. I am still the same age as when that happened and it was October 2, 1981!

 

I'm curious about what was behind you. Please share the details with us.

[Chef Jim]

 

Merged version of my weird story:

 

Do any of you guys have a story about something totally bizarre that happened to you? I have one. It was so weird I have a hard time even thinking about it. I will try to tell it here but will probably have to take breaks and tell it in pieces because I find that when I talk about it I get too freaked out. Here goes:

I was in NYC. Specifically Times Square. It started out normally but then the wind picked up and suddenly there was a cloud that descending right down upon us. It was like a balloon just floating down. No one seemed to care. They carried on like nothing was there. Then....I can't go on right now I'm too freaked out. I'll try to continue later.

Any stories from you guys?

Well the thing is I get freaked out in so many ways. When I was typing I was about to point out that there were sirens wailing and I think they shut down the ports. That reminded me of the other time when I heard the ambulance and its siren screaming down Main Street and I had temporarily gotten over this incident so I didn't give it a thought. It turns out my uncle Geno was in that thing and I still feel guilty. Maybe I should let it go because I was trying hard to ignore the sirens because they reminded me of the story I'm telling now. There was so much else about that day.....I'm getting freaked out again.

So anyway it was weird that nobody was noticing, but I noticed so I started running toward Columbus Circle. I was boo coo scared, The wind was picking up and there was dirt and dust flying around making it hard for me to see. I didn't want to look back but what I was looking at as I moved forward was no prize. It was bizarre. Almost like an alternate reality. I'm freaked out again.

 

Sorry. Ain't gonna read all that OC.

 

Anyway as I went down the street there were these weird mean jerky guys at a food cart dressed in sheets. The food cart's special that day was something called ham hocks and Hoppin John. I don't know what that is and I stayed away from it but something smelled like peaches. It might have been the hoppin john. I'm not sure. Anyway the dirt and dust was really blowing now. I was sweating a lot and so it all stuck to my skin and there was a lot of it. I was starting to have trouble moving then I saw all these broads wearing sunglasses. I didn't know what to do........sorry getting freaked out again.

 

So anyway while I was frozen with dirt and dust caked to me and desperate to move along comes this young chick in a skirt and a letter sweater singing sis boom nah and holding a can of something that says "Blue Diamond" on it. She opens up that can and eats something.....says "Ewwwwwww!!!!!! bitter bitter bitter" and starts flinging these little things at me using a stick with a star at the top. Well it sounds rude but it was actually good luck as it broke me free from the crust and I was able to run again.

I look behind me and you don't want to know what I saw. So i kept running.

When I thought the worst was over I came upon...............sorry. I can't right now. My heart is racing just thinking about it.

 

So anyway when I looked behind me people were dropping like flies. It was like a wall of death right there in behind me right where they drop the ball on New Year's Eve.. So I ran. I ran fast and ran right past this parade where a dude named Carol was the grand marshall and it wasn't Archie Bunker. I only saw the banner quickly and might have some of the details wrong. I was running fast. Anyway I bumped right into this dude who was smoking a cigarette. He had mega long fingernails and I fell. When I was getting up i looked at his shoes. That said "Elvis". Needless to say I ran faster. I ran right into an apartment building to protect myself from the goings on outside but what I saw in there haunts me to this day. I wish I hadn't gone in.

 

Finally when I ducked into that apartment house I thought things would be fine, but it was some sort of upscale crackhouse/garment factory. There were kids everywhere at what appeared to be their home. They were playing with the used needles from the crack people and the pins from the garment workers. Needles and pins! There were too many of them for me to do anything. It was like a giant swarm of kids.

I left and decided to run toward the cloud wall because it seemed like there was no escape. I ran right into and through it. Once I did, it shattered and everything was back to the way it had been.

I know this whole thing was pretty unusual but the moral is there is good and bad that can come from everything.

The bad:

I am haunted by these memories and the thought that this incident was not somehow documented in history. There were a lot of people there.

I will always wonder what happened to those kids.

I will always regret not slapping that cheerleader that was flinging stuff at me.

The sheer terror is something I feel every day.

The good:

When i went back through the wall a lot of things changed. I learned to master portholes and wormals from that point forward which has netter me a Googlebot and many other benefits which I cannot disclose.

Nothing, and I mean nothing scares me anymore.

I pretty much think I am prepared for anything after experiencing that. You have to take the good and the bad, the scary and the calm....life is about you, not the things that are happening around you.

Neutral:

I have noticed that I no longer age since the incident. This has its ups and downs but it is mostly good. I am in high demand with the ladies and make lots of $$$$$ but it is tough watching friends and relatives wither away or have things happen to them like with Geno. I am still the same age as when that happened and it was October 2, 1981!

 

[Fadingpain]

Some time in 1999 or 2000 I was renting a flat on Norwood Avenue in the city.

 

I came home from work in the late afternoon and my block of Norwood became invaded by crows. Literally thousands of them. The noise was unbelievable and they were all sitting up in the trees either side of the street, shitting on everything.

 

Every car parked on the street had hundreds of bird plops on it.

 

I was watching under covered protection on the front porch. My next door neighbor (hot young woman) was standing in her driveway, taking photos of the event. We chatted for a bit about how it was one of the more bizarre things we had each ever witnessed.

 

It was like a scene from The Birds.

[Clippers of Nfl]

Weirdest thing in my life for me was reading this thread. Oh no. Freaking out again. Bye.

[Deranged Rhino]

I told you that I stopped aging years ago didn't I?

 

Edit: I tried to look up UAP and found "Unlicensed Assistive Personnel" which sounds an awful lot like "hooker" to me. It is fine to share your stories here but please keep it clean.

 

I forgot, I do have a good hooker story but it's not necessarily weird and/or dirty. Just a story involving a car full of people, a pimp in a crushed velvet suit, and a potential DWI. But in this case UAP refers to unidentified aerial phenomenon, lights in the sky essentially.

 

One of the weirder moments in my life happened when I was living in Boston. At the time I was working construction, in Rhode Island, which meant a lot of very early mornings preceded by very late and often blurry nights. This particular early morning was a Friday, the morning after my roommate's birthday party which had barely ended when I was starting my morning commute. I carpooled back then with another field engineer who lived in Dorchester, just a few stops away on the red line. Being so early in the morning the T was fairly empty. Hungover, hell still a little drunk, I tucked myself into a corner seat and shut my eyes hoping that would stop the spinning.

 

It didn't.

 

I opened my eyes a few stops later to find him sitting next to me. Most morning commuters spend the train ride reading books or newspapers or listening to their music. This guy wasn't doing any of those things, instead he was just staring straight ahead at the back of the seat in front of us. Before I had time to do anything other than startle at the sight of the man, he told me,

 

"Don't worry, you haven't missed your stop."

 

"Excuse me?"

 

"Your stop. You haven't missed it."

 

Maybe it was the hangover or the lack of sleep, but the man spoke with such soft confidence I didn't question the information. Instead I was relieved I hadn't slept through my stop. I sat up in the seat, suddenly self-conscious about how much I probably smelled of booze and the club.

 

We rode in silence for the next few minutes as I slowly started to become more awake and alert. Looking around the nearly empty train, it started to bug me that this guy chose to sit directly next to me when there were plenty of other empty seats. It's like when you’re at a urinal taking a leak and the next guy comes in and takes the urinal directly next to you when there are several empty ones. But before I could ask the man next to me to move, he spoke again:

 

“You’re going to fall today…” and at this point he looked at me in the eyes for the first time, “Twice.”

 

Before I could say anything in response, the train lurched to a sudden stop and I shot awake from a deep sleep. When I looked to my right the man was gone. It appeared as if I had been dreaming, or so I assumed based on the drool on my hand. It was an odd, extremely vivid dream but I wrote it off to the booze and the late night and went about my morning.

 

By the time I arrived at work it had been snowing for a good hour. My boss’s boss, the project manager, was on site for the first time since I’d been hired – so it wasn’t the best day to show up in such a hungover state. We were building a massive pharmaceutical plant according to the blueprints, but to the naked eye the site looked like a giant hole with rebar sticking out of darkness. I had been assigned to monitor the decking of a four story building being erected directly next to the giant hole. This involved climbing up ladders and supervising the iron workers – making sure they were wearing their safety vests and harnesses which none of them ever wanted to wear – and trying to keep everything on schedule.

 

The project manager asked me to take him and my boss up to the top of the building and walk them through the work that was done yesterday. The process of getting to the top of the naked steel involved climbing up two twenty foot ladders (attached to one another with duct tape and chains in what I was certain was an OSHA violation) and then several more smaller ladders until we reached the top of the steel. There were no walls, and only half of the top floor had actual decking put down meaning we had to walk single file across the steel beams to move around the perimeter.

 

This high up, in February, the beams were slick with snow and ice. I was the last man up the ladder, and thus I was walking behind my two bosses when I fell. I had just taken maybe two steps across the steel when I felt my boot slip. I knew I was going down, I had time to scream but I was too angry at myself to think anything other than !@#$ me.

 

I fell about five feet before the safety line caught. I had fallen so quietly that my two bosses walking in front of me didn’t realize what had happened. So there I was, hanging on the safety line, trying to figure out a way to pull myself back up – an impossible feat but my pride forced me to at least try. An iron worker saw me within a few moments and signaled to the others. Soon, half the work site was watching the show from above and below.

 

As I hung there my mind drifted back to the T that morning and the gentleman who told me I was going to fall. I remember laughing at the recollection, still dangling four stories up from my safety harness, and saying to myself, “That’s one fall” – then, I swear to everything, right on cue the soft patch on my safety line broke and I began to fall again.

 

The soft patch was designed to slow someone’s descent so they wouldn’t be jerked to a sudden halt – this is how most injuries happen. My soft patch had malfunctioned, instead of falling once, I fell twice – this time ten more feet before coming to a painful stop that left me bruised and battered in a lot of sensitive areas. It took three iron workers to get me back onto the steel in the end. The episode was a source of much amusement to my coworkers who found the whole thing hilarious. But I always wondered about that dream… was it just a coincidence?

[Clippers of Nfl]

Short posts.