I grew up and still reside in Albuquerque, New
Mexico (USA), and, at the time, my family lived down the street from a community center.  Us kids used to participate in such activities as sports; crafts; dancing; and we had a lot of fun, especially during the summer months when school was out.

One day, a bus load of us kids from the community center, were taken to the Fraternal Order of Police grounds near the Rio Grande River, for an all-day picnic.  The usual stuff was there at the picnic...hot dogs; hamburgers; softball; horse-shoes; ice cream...and, that's where the problem started...the ICE CREAM!

The ice cream was kept cold with the use of dry ice, and when the picnic was over, three of us kids decided to take some of the dry ice with us on the bus!  (bad idea)  We all had small pieces of dry ice in a box, and we thought it would be cool (no pun intended) to pretend we were doing a little smoking!  (WOW...how neat!)

We would put the dry ice in our mouths, and watch the steam come out of our mouths and noses!  (When the brains were handed out...none of us kids were around, as you might have guessed!)

Kids will be kids...and it was fun for a while, and then...a sharp turn by the bus to the right, and a little horse-play to go with it by others on the bus...and PANIC!  I SWALLOWED THE PIECE OF DRY ICE i HAD IN MY MOUTH, AND IT LODGED IN MY THROAT!  I quickly found myself on the floor in the back of the bus...grasping for air, as the dry ice was burning and blistering and swelling my throat!!

I was scared to death, as I lie there, and several of the kids, were standing over me laughing and laughing!  I was dying...and they were laughing! I could not understand!  Fortunately, we were close to the community center, and the bus driver whisked me into his car and took me to a near-by hospital!  I was given emergency care and released and the doctor told me that I would be okay!  For the next three weeks, he put me on a diet of soup broth and warm milk!  (Yuk!)

Later, I could not understand why the kids were so nasty as to laugh at me, while I was down on the floor of the bus choking to death!  But, I found out the reason later on, and it made me laugh, too! 

You see, the steam from the dry ice was coming out of my mouth and nose as expected.  But, what I didn't know at the time, was the fact that the steam was also coming out of my EARS, too!  WOW!...the kids must have been impressed with my magical abilities!  They probably thought I had some kind of magic powers, etc. 

In reflecting back...this incident must have been pretty funny for everyone, as I recalled what happened on the bus that awful day.  I can still remember all those little faces looking down at me as I lay on the floor of the bus, and I knew from that point on, that humor was going to be a large part of my life!  But, I wouldn't go through all that again... just to get a laugh! 

CAUTION!  To all kids out there!  DO NOT play or handle dry ice in any way!  Let an adult handle it for you...and only if necessary!  Dry ice can be dangerous, if not handled properly! 

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