Being on the Other Side of Things

Not fun - I must say. Being the one that the firefighters carefully wrap up and strap into their stair chair is not a pleasant experience, despite the fact that the firefighters themselves are absolutely wonderful.

So there I was on Monday afternoon, sitting on the floor behind the cash registers at the bookstore, pre-counting the special orders in preparation for our inventory. Another employee was ringing up a customer and had to take a security device off of a CD. The key for that is underneath two display shelves behind the registers. As she pulled up to release the CD, she bumped the shelf above, which was overloaded with books - hardcovers, of course. Couldn't have been on the other side with the paperbacks. Anyway... four copies of Janet Evanovich's latest Stephanie Plum novel came flying down off the shelf and I caught them with my head. Yup - that's right - with my head.

Good thing I have a thick Irish skull... or not. You'll understand why when you read on.

So being the thickheaded Irishman that I am, I filled out an accident report and just kept right on counting, despite the fact that I felt like I had a railroad spike driven through my head. Finished my workday and went home, where I spent the evening nursing the phenomenal headache that resulted from my book beating.

The next morning when I got up, I wasn't feeling well, but I wasn't sure if it was a result of my allergies acting up or if it had to do with the beating that I took the day before. I got ready for work, drove in and as I drove along Rte. 295, my left eye started to twitch badly and I started getting shaky all over. I made it to work, parked my car and went inside, hoping that the feeling would pass. By the time I got into the employee break room, I could not stand by myself. My manager called 911 and the great guys of the Cranston Fire Rescue Department came and scooped me up, swiftly delivering me to Kent Hospital's ER.

Yup - ironic, but true. The guys, of course, were great. I tried to stay upbeat with them as they took care of me, because I know the kind of crap they put up with all of the time. It was tough, though, because when your blood pressure's through the roof and it feels like Andre the Giant is squeezing your head between his hamhocks - well, not exactly the easiest time to be jovial.

So, I've decided that I much prefer NOT being the one strapped to the gurney. It really is not a pleasant thing to go through, even when you have the nicest guys around taking care of you. No offense to my newfound rescuers from the Edgewood fire station - none at all. I greatly appreciate their excellent care and made sure I thanked them, too.

Needless to say, I won't be filming this weekend - unless, that is, I'm cleared on Friday to return to work. We'll see what happens.

Oy... I'll tell ya.... never a dull moment at the bookstore. You'd think it'd be a boring place to work!