02/100: "Kids, Don't Try This At Home" Warnings Should Always Be Taken Seriously
I was one of those kids that you saw attempting to climb the largest tree in the park when they were five, or begging their parents to drive the car when they were twelve (not that they ever let me).
However, I was that kid who saw the "DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME" signs and took them seriously.
My best friend didn't.
It was a cold and rainy warm and sunny day during the summer months when my best friend (we'll use the letter S for a name) decided that she was going to go down the slide.
WITH A SKATEBOARD.
Now, I would like to say that before this whole incident happened, I had told her not to even attempt to do this. And when she insisted, I told her to put on a helmet. I stand by my theory to this day that it was what had saved her.
I couldn't even watch her stupidity, so I had turned around. I remember what I heard, though: vibrating metal, two thumps, a crack, and S's screams.
She had to go to the hospital for two breaks in her right arm and a cracked collarbone. Lucky, the arm had clean breaks, but her collarbone had taken about two months to heal properly.
But the first thing I said to her once she woke from the anesthesia was, "This is where a 'Do Not Try This At Home' sign would appear."
She looked at me and said, "I know."
To this day, she hasn't done anything as utterly stupid.
So, today's lesson is this: If an action is to come with a "Kids, Don't Try This At Home" sign, it's best left undone. And if you absolutely have to do it, at least where a helmet, please?
However, I was that kid who saw the "DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME" signs and took them seriously.
My best friend didn't.
It was a cold and rainy warm and sunny day during the summer months when my best friend (we'll use the letter S for a name) decided that she was going to go down the slide.
WITH A SKATEBOARD.
Now, I would like to say that before this whole incident happened, I had told her not to even attempt to do this. And when she insisted, I told her to put on a helmet. I stand by my theory to this day that it was what had saved her.
I couldn't even watch her stupidity, so I had turned around. I remember what I heard, though: vibrating metal, two thumps, a crack, and S's screams.
She had to go to the hospital for two breaks in her right arm and a cracked collarbone. Lucky, the arm had clean breaks, but her collarbone had taken about two months to heal properly.
But the first thing I said to her once she woke from the anesthesia was, "This is where a 'Do Not Try This At Home' sign would appear."
She looked at me and said, "I know."
To this day, she hasn't done anything as utterly stupid.
So, today's lesson is this: If an action is to come with a "Kids, Don't Try This At Home" sign, it's best left undone. And if you absolutely have to do it, at least where a helmet, please?