I always manage to show my complete lack of any grace or coordination.
For some unknown reason I am allowed to be a Board member for a national organization that works to get regulators aware of, trained in, and accepting new environmental technologies. This is a pretty big organization with at least a little bit of prominence in the environmental remediation field. (Like I said, I still don’t know how I managed to fool people enough to be invited to be on the Board).

We were at a meeting in San Antonio Texas which is very proud of their canal system which channels surface and groundwater through canal through the city (a real waste of water in a semi-desert climate but it brings in the hick tourists to ride the stupid swan boats). As our meeting brought +/- 400 people to the city to stay in hotels and blow lots of money in the bars, the Board was invited by the Mayor to take a personal tour of the whole water system workings. They pike us up in a b us with the city dignitaries and proceeded to drive us all over to see a bunch of pumps and locks etc. At one stop, being Texas, the ground was completely flat with a well watered lawn and a flat sidewalk. As we walked towards the building we were supposed to see, I of course found the only small crack in the sidewalk, tripped, spun around, and spectacularly managed not to fall, all the while being watched by the Mayor, the other Board members and members of the press who were on the tour.

OK, embarrassing but even with everyone laughing at me and asking how I could manage to trip where it is completely flat, I could live with the shame. Unfortunately, on the way back to the bus, I managed to find the exact same spot, trip and instead of spectacularly avoiding falling, I spectacularly twisted, fell, rolled, and ripped my pant along with cutting my hand. I lost all credibility amongst all of the laughing at me and being asked if I was OK. (I should say that I also have the ability to blush very red which kept happening so much that some people were worried I was going to have a heart attack.

It didn’t help that all of the rest of the stops, the Mayor and other dignitaries would all surround the bus steps laughing hysterically while pretending to try to keep me from falling.

It’s been a couple of years since then and thankfully I have done enough other stupid stuff that I am no longer reminded of it to often. (The story of me drunkenly hanging my ass off of a cable car going through downtown San Francisco is much more fun for people to tell).

(Sorry for the length)
(MichaelS wasn't picked again, Thu 21 Jan 2010, 17:50, Reply)