I fell down at the Publix the other day. A while ago I wrote about falling down inside the Publix with my fabulous but very slippery shoes. I wrote about how no one came to my rescue and almost no one even expressed concern. This time it was in the Publix parking lot, wearing Croc wedges, and plenty of people cared.
I was loading groceries into my trunk. I don't really know exactly what happened. I tripped over my feet or got them tangled in the shopping cart or something. Next thing I know, I was very, very aware of the fact that I was tipping backward. I was not able to stop it and there was nothing to grab onto and, really, it was too late to contemplate a decent response plan. I fell backward, landed on my ass, and rolled backward. My elbows hit the ground and I rolled backward a little further. My head, thank goodness, did not hit the asphalt. As I fell, all I could think was "Jeez, this is going to be embarrassing..."
Completely uninjured and only slightly sore on my bottom, I got up after 2 or 3 seconds had passed. I continued to pack bags into my trunk. The first condolence call came while I was still loading up the groceries. A Publix employee, a man about 40, who was gathering carts in the lot, casually called over, "Are you OK?" I replied that I was fine and thanked him for his concern. Frankly he did not look concerned. He was quite listless in his tone and his eyes looked weary. Perhaps he asked out of a sense of duty? He made no motion to come over and help me or, at the very least, take my cart.
I then turned around to see a champagne-colored SUV pulling up behind me. The passenger side window was rolled down. The woman in the driver's seat leaned toward the window and said, "Oh my, are you okay? I saw you fall down. Did you hit your head?" I smiled and replied, "Oh no, didn't hit my head, just landed on my behind, which fortunately for me is the most padded part of my body, so I am fine, thanks." I chuckled. She said that it was good I was not injured. She did not laugh at my booty comment though. Hmm, tough room...
A mother with a young child walking by asked me if was okay. I reply that I was, but thanked her for asking. With all the groceries put away in the trunk and some in the back seat, I took the cart over to the little cart corral and pushed it in. I was walking back to my car, when an older woman approached me from across the lot. She was waving her hand to get my attention. She said to me, "I saw you fall down and I wondered if you had hurt yourself."
I told her that I was fine and tried out the big butt comment again to see if I could get a laugh or at least a smile. I got neither. She said, "Well, I had been sitting in my car, talking on the phone, and I saw you fall down and I thought Oh My. And I wanted to come over and make sure you were okay, but I was on the phone and couldn't get off, because I was talking to my sister and we are in the middle of this family emergency of sorts, so I couldn't get off the phone right away. But I just wanted to make sure you were OK."
I told her I was jut fine. She stared at me for a second. Then she said "Ok, have a good day," and she turned and left. Gosh, people are nice!
No comments:
Post a Comment