Another One Bites the Dust

Rushing to meet Aaron at the Imax theater for a massive-screen viewing of "Dark Knight," I practically ran down the Cleveland Park Metro escalator(s). As I reached the bottom, I broke into a run -- & promptly fell on my arse. It was the kind of fall I would have blogged about had I watched it happen to someone else, so I suppose it's only fair I write about it now.

It was a movie-perfect fall. I watched my feet fly out from under me. I caught some air, waited to hit the ground. Landed solidly on my right side & slide a good foot & a half across the slippery tile floor. I fell so hard I knocked the wind out of myself, so hard I couldn't get up right away -- I just had to sit & recoup... & cry.

A train had just come by, so people were filing up the stairs onto the mezzanine platform where I'd just fallen. About 20 people watched it happen, including a little boy who ran up to me to make sure I was all right. At least three other people stopped to ask if I was OK, but I was so embarrassed & hazy that I couldn't even look at them. All I remember is looking up at the little boy's mom & seeing the shock on her face -- even a good 10 seconds after I'd hit the ground, her jaw was still hanging open. I fell THAT HARD.

My only real damage, though? I missed the train, of course, but otherwise all I hurt was my right pinky finger, which appears to be bruised beneath the nail. Painful, yes, but not as badly injured as my ego. You just know that a few of the people who watched that spectacle texted friends to say, "I just saw the best fall ever..." And let's face it - I can't even blame them.