by Darlene Zagata

Created on: January 09, 2009

I can't remember falling in front of anyone although I do remember tripping, stumbling and even walking into a telephone pole. Those darn poles can really get in the way. There is one incident involving my sister-in-law that comes to mind. I will never forget the fall she took. Although it was hilarious she did get scraped up a bit. Luckily, she is a good sport who is able to laugh at herself.

It was a Thursday evening and my sister-in-law, Sue, was running late as usual. We were bingo fanatics and Thursday night bingo was our favorite. I lived right across the street from the bingo hall so Sue would meet me at my house and then we'd go to bingo. She was running later than usual on that particular Thursday night so when I say she was running late she really was running. The employment office was across the alley right behind my house and the post office was across the parking lot next to it. Sue would normally cut through the employment office parking lot, cross the alley into my back yard. But this time Sue got an unexpected surprise.

I was watching the clock and wondering what was keeping my perpetually late sister-in-law so I walked out back to see if she was anywhere in sight. There she was running up through the parking lot. It was getting dark and Sue didn't notice that the chain had been put up at the other end of the parking lot near my house. Before I could say anything, she ran right into the chain, flipped over it and bingo chips flew up in the air and rained down over the pavement.

It just so happened that four postal workers were standing outside on their break time. They stared at Sue in amazement, whispered among themselves and shook their heads. They then went back inside the building. They didn't even laugh, well, at least not in front of us. Not one of them offered their assistance or even asked if she was alright. Her reaction was total embarrassment as she pulled herself from the ground. Sue's face was as red as her scraped hands and knees. We got some pretty strange looks from people driving down the alley as the two of us sat there picking bingo chips off the ground. We then spent a few extra minutes at my house while Sue cleaned up and gained her composure while I explained to my husband why his sister was in such disarray. Although the evening got off to a faltering start the night ended well. Sue won $200 and I won a few bucks myself.

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