Once again I prove...my life is nothing but head trauma
08 May, 2002 :: 6:48 p.m.
So here it is...MY 100th Entry! Woo...[Editor's Note: entries have been deleted...at the time of this entry, it was indeed the 100th]
And just so I'd have a good 100th entry, I waited until something really out of the ordinary happened. It happened Saturday morning, but now's the first time I've felt up to getting on the computer to mention it...
Saturday morning, like around four a.m., I'm in the back warehouse of wal-mart doing stupid shit with Brady...we're loading up a trailer that is being picked up, so we have to put shit like junk pallets and good pallets on the truck. Brady starts out by bringing in a couple of piles of junk wood and stuff and it takes me a little while running the electric pallet jack because it's been over a year since I used the damn thing. But I finally get the junk on there and start loading the good pallets.
Brady decides that I'm taking too long and I should run the forklift instead. Fine by me except it's freezing outside and I'm in jeans and a t-shirt and I'm not licensed to run the forklift so if I have an accident, it's my ass. But whatever, I go out and start grabbing piles of pallets and bringing them in for Brady. After about 5-6 stacks of pallets, Brady and I switch again because I can't feel my hands. I go back to grabbing the stacks and loading them in the trailer...this time with a hand jack, not the power jack because it's just easier and faster with less technology.
Two stacks in to this, I'm pushing the stack into the truck and it's a little higher than the other stacks, but all of these stacks coming in are supposed to be roughly the same amount, so I'm not thinking anything of it. I start pushing it in and I feel it catch. I look up and OH SHIT! the top pallet caught the trailer door and is headed for me. I don't have time to get away, so I just duck my head and hope for the best.
BAM! A pallet weighing approximately 50 pounds falls and catches the top of my forehead and shoves my neck about down to where tailbone is. I jump back and my first thought is, "Okay, I can still move my arms and legs...that's a good thing." The next few thoughts that come to mind I share with everyone in the warehouse area..."SHIT! MOTHERFUCKER! GODDAMN SHIT! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! SONOFA...FUCK!FUCK!FUCK!"...something to that effect anyway.
At the same time, I hear John yell, "He's bleeding! He's bleeding!"
I pull my arm down from my head which I had thrown up as a reflex and notice that my forearm is covered in blood...then the blood starts running down my face, dripping off my nose, pooling in the corners of my eyes. I'm wearing a $6 dollar wal-mart t-shirt with a little samurai guy on it and I think, "Damn! I don't wanna get blood on my t-shirt" so I throw my head forward and let the blood run onto the floor.
Jim, the overnight manager, starts going ballistic. "Get a mop and bucket![for the blood--ed.], get him some paper towels! [for the blood still gushing out of my head--ed.] Mike, you're gonna have to take him to the hospital! Nevermind! John, get him to the hospital! Where's the mop and bucket!?"
John grabs me and tries to direct me to the door, but when I'm in pain, I tend to just walk around and swear so I'm not cooperating at first. Finally I cool down and let him start guiding me up front, blood still covering my face and a wad of paper towels pressed to my forehead. I stop in mid-stride and realize I don't have my cigarettes.
"If I'm going that far, I need my cigarettes," I tell John.
He tells me to grab them and he goes to grab some gauze. I grab my jacket and head for the front of the store, not worried about how I look or who sees me. A few co-workers just stop and stare, but I'm on a mission to get up front, so I don't stop to chat about what just happened to me. I get to the front and Kathy, the cashier, sees me.
"What the hell happened???"
"Pallet fell on my head" and I head for the door.
"You can't drive yourself like that!"
"No, I'm just waiting for John to take me."
She grabs me and tries to get me to sit and wait, but I don't want to sit. I notice when she grabs my arm that it's numb and my fingers are tingling. SWEET! Meanwhile Jim and John don't realize I've already come up front so they're running around looking for me or at least a trail of blood and worrying that I fell and passed out somewhere. Finally they get up front and Jim and Kathy help me to John's truck.
That was pretty much the exciting part. At the hospital the doctor decided that all I needed was six stitches and that despite my arm going numb temporarily, I don't need x-rays. So he sews me up and sends me back to work. I fill out an accident report, go home, Em asks what the hell happened so I run through the above story. Em's graduation was that morning, so after not being allowed to sleep for fear that maybe I won't wake up, I go to that and my neck and upper back are killing me afterwards, but other than that it was A-ok.
Today I went to a doctor to see what was wrong with my neck and got the nurse practitioner instead. She decided in her infinite wisdom that I still don't need x-rays and despite the several other times my arm has gone numb since the accident, and the fact that if I turn my neck wrong or sleep on it wrong, I suffer bouts of nausea. And, I should go back to work tonight according to her...right. Don't think so. Oh, and saturday night, since it was graduation weekend, we went out because it was Em's last chance to see some people. I didn't want to wear a hat or go with stitches showing, so Em bought me some bandages that have fun prints on them. So I had a big ol' smiley face on top of my forehead. Good times.
There, that's my 100th entry. I have stuff to mention prior to that from the last couple weeks of school when I took my self-imposed exile from the internet, but that will be later. I will get back to updating on a regular basis though. CHEERS!
