When ice falls, make sure you're not next...

tickticktick...tick...tickticktick...

I was sound asleep, when a strange noise at my window woke me up. I looked out & discovered it was sleeting.

Oh, dang.

I was working as a PBX Operator at a department store in Fort Worth, TX; if anyone HAD to report to work, it was me...if only to field the calls from employees calling in to say that they would not be able to come to work.

Double dang.

I don't have a car, & had to rely on public transportation. I got up, got dressed, & went to wait for the bus.

Of course, with the roads being iced over, the busses were running behind.

When #80 finally showed up, I got on; the bus driver commented that it was going to be a long, slow ride to work (no kidding), because the roads were so treacherous. A trip that normally took 20 minutes tops wound up being nearly an hour. He wasn't joking...I thought we were gonna buy the farm once or twice as the back end of the bus would start sliding. (Thought we were going to own a bridge when we almost hit the abutment.) Thank God, there wasn't much traffic, or there could have been a real problem.

When we slid to a stop in front of the store, I asked the bus driver to kindly wait until I got off of the bus & up on the sidewalk before he started off. He agreed.

I use a cane because of back problems & degenerative arthritis. When I went to step up onto the sidewalk, my cane slid, hooked my foot, & I fell.

Under the bus.

I'm yelling, "DON'T GO! DON'T GO!!"

The bus driver couldn't see me; he yelled, "WHERE ARE YOU?"

"I'm UNDER the bus."

"You're WHERE???"

"UNDER the bus."

"Whattaya doin' under there?"

The first thing that popped into my head popped out of my mouth..."I'm checking your brakes."

I finally managed to get out from under the bus & up onto the sidewalk. Thankfully, I wasn't hurt...just very, very embarrassed.

Didn't help that one of the managers had seen this transpire...he kept saying, "Where's my video camera? You could have won $10,000.00 if I sent this in to America's Funniest Videos." I'm certainly glad he didn't have a camera...although I could have used $10,000.00.....