Fall 2008

On Friday I witnessed a lady fall.

She knew she was gonna fall too and she could hardly do anything about it. The only thing she could do was fall with dignity. So in order to avoid a potentially bad scrub, she fell in sections.

This is a prime example of our parasympathetic system (reflex) at work. This is my take on what process her body took in order to deal with the fall. Actions are in italics.

Trip
"Activate primary trip reflex." (Primary Trip Reflex: shuffle feet and recover footing)
Shuffle feet
"Are you still falling?"
"Yes"
"Activate secondary trip reflex." (STR: buckle knees and regain balance)
Buckle knees
"Are you still falling?"
"Yes"
"Brace for impact, prevent injury to face." (Brace: arms out, fall on hands and knees)
Stick arms out, palms facing out
Fall

This lady fell in four moves! I must say, that is a very interesting combo. Here's the epilogue:

"Are you ok?"
"Yes"
"Did anyone see?"
Look around
"Those two guys did. They're avoiding eye contact." (Ron and I)
Get up
Check feet and pretend it was a shoe malfunction

I wasn't laughing at her misfortune. I was laughing at the way she played it off.