It’s been a long time since I’ve ever experienced falling down. Like actually tipping over, and hitting the ground. Last night I lived this experience on the stairs while carrying a load of laundry. I realized there are stages to this experience. Please enjoy a selection of funny GIFs of other people falling down. It’s funny because it’s not you, and more so because it’s not me.
(Click on the ones that aren’t moving to see how funny they really are)
Stage 1) The Mistake
This is when the fall is initiated. That could be missing a step on the stairs. It could be getting up too fast and losing your balance. It could be playing a stupid dizzy-bat challenge. Whatever the reason this is the beginning of your doom.
Stage 2) Denial
Even in the moment that it’s happening your brain tells you “we can prevent this disaster”. In a lot of cases it sparks a reflex response you’ve had since you were an infant. Scientifically it’s the “Moro-reflex”. Whether you’re tipping over forward or falling over backward your arms go to work trying to save you.
Stage 3) Contact
This is when your brain finally accepts the fact that you have fallen. Contact is the first moment where your brain associates pain with this whole experience. This is also when your arms pay the price for having tried to help, often resulting in smashed or skinned elbows, jammed wrists and the like.
Stage 4) I’m STILL Falling
In most cases this is the moment your brain checks out and watches your body tumble from a distance and even you can’t believe you’re STILL falling, despite all the effort your arms are putting into stopping you. Sometimes this stage is responsible for most of the damage.
Stage 5) Full Stop
This is the moment that seems to never come when you’re the one falling down, but eventually it happens and you sit still for a moment taking inventory of all your injuries starting from the point of contact and working outwards from there. This is also the place where you think, I can’t believe that just happened.
Stage 6) The Quick Look
From your resting place your eyes dart around doing a head count of how many people saw it happen and if any cell phones were involved.
Stage 7) The Slow Stand
Often at the hands of someone who has either stopped laughing long enough to help or if you’re old like me someone that comes running because they just saw that old guy fall down.
Stage 8) Day 2
This is when pain really comes into play (along with it’s best friend “bruising) and you try to calculate the last time it was you fell like that. This is also the day you recount your story to all of your friends, family, and co-workers. They all have the same wincing reaction often followed by their own falling down stories.
I’m in “Day 2” today. Feel free to leave me a comment on our FB page to tell me your Falling Down story so I don’t feel quite so bad!
-Nic
