TheBanyanTree: Childhood Accidents

[Russ Doden]

Oh the joys of childhood and all the "little" mishaps that take place.  
They say that teens think they are indestructible, but pre-teen kids 
KNOW they are indestructible!  Anyhow I did.  I must have anyhow 
considering the things I did.  Three major memories still float around 
in the vast void of my memory banks.  Not pretty memories, but kind 
of funny in a way.  

The first was a bicycle accident.  We lived next to a street that was 
on a long steep hill. Our street crossed this steep street and 
considering that at the bottom of the hill the street crossed the 
highway that ran through town, it is a miracle none of us were 
splattered on a grill of a car or truck!  This accident didn't involve the 
highway though.  I had been visiting some friends "just over the hill" 
and was coming home on my bicycle.  Of course I had to peddle like 
hell to get up as much speed as I could - simply because going down 
hill and peddling let you go really fast.  Well, I had planned to 
overshoot my street, go down to the next block and loop around and 
come home.  That must have been my plan because I did it a lot.  
Well, one of the neighbor "little" kids decided to cross the street.  
Right in front of me.  This little kid was maybe 6 at most.  I must have 
been all of 11 or 12.  Ever try to stop a bicycle going at least 20 
mph?  Downhill.  With some gravel on the road?  Needless to say, I 
didn't get stopped in time.  Well, I guess I sort of did.  I didn't really hit 
the little kid.  I was standing on the brakes, sliding right at her and 
the next thing I knew I was laying in bed with the doctor picking 
gravel out of my chest and a big divot out of my forearm.  I found out 
afterwards that the bike finally did stop just in front of the frozen 
child.  I went over the handlebars, and over the kid.  Did a two point 
landing on my chest and arm and slid to a stop.  Totally unconscious.  
It took me a while to go fast down that hill again.  Oh, the little kid, 
she didn't even get knocked down.  

The second memory was maybe two years later.  Remember the old 
metal "jungle gym" that you climbed around on?  Iron pipes maybe 3  
feet long, made up lots of "squares" to climb on.  Well, we were 
playing on the thing, even though it was really for the younger kids.  I 
had climbed to the top and was sitting with my feet on one set of 
horizontal bars, and my butt on another set -- and I never did know if 
I slipped or was pushed.  I wasn't the most liked kid so someone 
may have "helped" me lose my perch.  The next thing I knew I was 
laying on the ground, looking up at the sky.  With a very concerned 
teacher over me.  It was a miracle I tell ya, no broken bones not 
even a bump on the head.  I should have hit every bar on the way 
down.  I didn't remember anything of the fall so I must have blacked 
out as soon as the decent started.  I started to develop a fear of 
heights about then I think.  

The third memory was the same year I I believe.  That was a bad 
year for me.  We were on the playground again, playing "tag" on the 
slide.  Yup, we had been told the slide was for younger kids, but it 
was a big slide and had lots of metal pipes for the ladder and support 
pieces.  The rule was, you had to be on the slide to tag someone if 
you were "it."  I was at the top trying to get away from whomever it 
was that was it.  They were close.  The slide down was blocked.  I 
did the only rational thing - I jumped off the side from the top.  I never 
claimed to be graceful - or think things through all that well.  I hit the 
ground with a thud and my feet were not under me.  A little while 
later, I was taken to the hospital where I was diagnosed as having a 
broken arm.  When I came back to school, it was the envy of 
everyone.  After all what kid doesn't admire a cast on a friends arm 
or leg?  I wasn't supposed to use that arm.  So much for theory.  I 
found it was a wonderful built in bat for playing baseball -- till the 
doctor chewed me out after replacing the cast - twice.  I also found it 
kept the schoolyard bully in line after I whacked him up the side of 
the head for picking on a friend of mine.  I paid dearly for that little 
transgression after the cast was removed and lived in terror of the 
bully and his family until we moved away from there several years 
later.  

We won't talk about managing to get the swing to do a 360.  After all, 
I didn't get hurt - other than the MAJOR butt chewing I got for that 
little trick.

Ahhh, the joys of childhood -- and the invincibility it brings.  

Russ