Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Life of a Dignified Klutz

Get this. I slipped on an elevated ramp of a major building, along the city’s major thoroughfare, during a rush hour time, in front of possibly educated and sophisticated individuals…while I was wearing a skirt. The slip wasn’t instantaneous. It’s not one of those scandalous KA-BLAG moments. Of all the slips and klutz moments I have had, that most recent stunt (recent like...this morning) was the most gradual and artistic of all stunts I involuntarily made. Imagine a dancer slowly gaging for a half split.

I’m even sure I wasn’t moving at that time. I was just standing on an elevated ramp fumbling for my phone, when my left foot started to slide like being pulled by gravity; and my hands fully trying to find my balance. But all efforts were too late. I slowly found my eye level descending as I performed the most calculated, muscle-cramping half-split of my entire life. It was so calculated that my right thigh muscle was painfully stretched.

A couple of seconds made me internalize what happened as I grabbed the railings and pulled myself up. I heard a couple of giggles at the back. I was sure I wasn’t hallucinating, but I was more concerned about my right thigh. It was so painful I thought I needed a wheelchair. Eventually I was able to cross the street, went inside my building and got my pineapple juice like nothing happened.

I’m sure I’ve provided entertainment for some folks out there. Well, I believe I always have because I’m just a natural klutz just like close people say about me. Rely on me to provide you with some humiliating show. I talk, imagine and walk too much that my surroundings melt with my imagination. I suck at geometry and space coordination that one slip would suddenly distract my innate concept of physics. I’ve already stepped unto a hole and had my underwear exposed in an all-girl’s school. I have had a department store experience of finding my cheek attached to the transparent cabinet with me in a kneeling position. I’ve tumbled massively at badminton courts. I’ve slipped on ramps and waxed floors. I’ve even had my knees lacerated when I missed a step. I constantly fall from chairs, tied to one, get randomly stuck on a gate. Almost all done publicly. I think I might have experienced almost everything, except falling in pools, fountains and actually rolling over a ravine. God, I don’t ever want to experience falling on a manhole, although there’s a tendency since I’ve already had experience on stepping on wet paint and wet cement in high school.

Nothing to brag about. Also nothing to be surprised about. But it is still humiliating after all. Nevertheless, I am built to handle bruised and scarred skin. I may even handle stares and laughs graciously. It doesn’t matter, just as long as I don’t end up anywhere serious like hospitals, I'll willingly accept my fate.

BTW my left thigh still hurts like hell

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