Wednesday, January 17, 2007

When I Fall, Will You Catch Me

December 14, 2006

I know I've once spoken about karma...see previous blog, "A Slug's Life." But this time, karma actually got me...

I finally have a job with a Dunkin Donuts in walking distance. As if the 25 flavors of k-cup single serve selections there are in the kitchen here aren't enough, Dunks is right around the corner to satisfy my real coffee craving in the absence of Starbucks. There's a Donna's too, but some people swear by the fact that after five minutes of being in there, you leave smelling like it. And no, that's not a good thing.

Anyway...karma. So, it's Tuesday the 12th. Coworkers, MB and JS, decided to gallivant over to D-squared, insisiting I tag along. I thought about requesting delivery of my usual...large, light cream, no sugar regular...but decided that I already needed an office break.

All is well in Mt. Vernon at 8 am...we walk, we order, we pay, we receive, and thus, we leave. We stop at crosswalks when the orangish-red hand says to, and begin to cross over Calvert when the little glowing man says "go."

Not a minute later do I step perfectly with my right foot into a frayed area of my left jeaned leg. My two legs become one, and during the attempt of my next step, I trip. And by trip, I mean soar...and by soar, I mean (and I do not exaggerate...well not about this) launched, completely parallel with the street, several feet, before landing completely smack down onto the other side of the road. My coffee launched with me, opening and exploding all over the once dry pavement.

Somehow, with no more than a lost coffee, a scraped left hand/right knee, and a stiletto-heel-sized hole in the inner ankle of my jeans, I get up, recover quickly, and make it back to the office in one piece. Although, I am injured. I am embarrassed. And, I am parched.

So here's where the karma kicks in. I think people falling is funny. Perhaps one of the funniest things to witness. I remember watching America's Funniest Home Videos, and time after time, the "fallers" were the ones that got the most laughs from me. The recorded finale of 2006's American Idol unintentionally features a man flying off the stage by accident into the pit, with a complimenting "thug." I saved it on my DVR for 5 months to watch on repeat, and occasionally to cheer myself up, and others, when feeling down.

I trip A LOT. But I always catch myself. But there it was...the karma...chasing me...and I know now that you can't avoid it. It will be persistent until it gets you. And it got me. It got me so good, it knocked me face down in the middle of a busy street during rush hour...

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