Some days just suck from the moment you first crack open your eyes in the morning. The alarm goes off and you know within milliseconds what kind of day it’s going to be by how sharply the alarm pierces your brain.
Today was one of those days.
I didn’t sleep well last night so my day started with a deficit, which only made me cranky. I tried to grab a few extra minutes but that only made me late, which totally continued the tone for the day.
I finally got to work this morning, but I had one of those Just Can’t Do Anything Right days, which, of course, ups the ante on the Cranky Factor.
I counted the minutes until I could go to lunch because I knew I’d have an hour to myself—just me and my Kindle with a new issue of Newsweek.
I finally got out, ordered my food and settled in. I started to feel my shoulders relax and the tension leave my body. I started to think I could salvage the day after all.
That’ll teach me to think.
Whoooooaaaa!
When it was time to go back to work I walked to the restaurant door and noticed that it had started to pour. My first thought was, “Wow, it looks slippery. I need to be careful.”
No sooner had that thought left my head—like it was still hanging in the air over me—than I opened the door, took two steps and my right leg slipped out from under me. When I tried to save my balance, my right leg went out in front of me and my left leg completely lost any traction on the pavement and I slammed down onto my left knee. I tried to stop my fall with my left hand, but only managed to jam my thumb, slam my elbow into the ground and jar my left shoulder.
Meanwhile, my left leg was bent under me and that foot twisted under my butt. I was basically in a hurdle position on the ground, in about two inches of water.
After the instant shock passed, a loud “FUCK!” escaped from my mouth before I could stop it.
I took a quick inventory and tried to stand up. I could put pressure on my leg so I knew my foot wasn’t broken but I was concerned that I sprained my ankle or foot. It took me a minute—in the pouring rain—to gather my already diminished wits and try to walk back to my car.
I hobbled back to my car, holding on to random vehicles and structures to keep my balance. Once I got in and sat down I almost fell apart. It was just too much to deal with in that moment.
I pulled myself together and drove back to work, and as each block fell behind me, my thumb, my knee, my foot, my ankle, my shoulder and then my head all started to ache.
By the time I got back to my office I was fighting back tears, tired and sloshing in my jeans.
Now that I’m home I’m going to sink into a hot bathtub, get under the covers with the electric blanket cranked up, pull the blankets over my head and go to sleep and pretend like today never happened.
Until I wake up again tomorrow and realize my foot is the size of a football.
Are you okay now? Nothing broken? Man, that was a Martini moment if you ever needed one more! Think if you were carrying a shaker that would have saved you – all shaken, ready to go and anesthesia to boot. Take care!