Beware of Manholes!

[The D.A.]

Yesterday I had a singularly bad experience. A coworker and I decided to walk up to the University of Kansas campus over the lunch hour. After a pleasant time at the student union and the natural history museum we were walking back to the courthouse when I stepped on a manhole cover. The cover was perfectly flush, but when I stepped on it with my left foot the cover pivoted like some kind of trapdoor and down into the storm drain I went!

Fortunately the storm drain was only waist-deep. With the assistance of my friend and several motorists who saw what happened and stopped to help me I managed to extricate myself from the hole, only to find that the right leg of my khakis below the knee was soaked with blood. I pulled the cuff up expecting to see a bone sticking through the skin, but fortunately it was only badly gashed. One of the people who stopped to help drove me to the hospital, where stock was taken of my injuries. Nothing was broken, but my left leg was badly scraped, my right needed stitches, my right ankle was sprained, and my ribs were badly bruised. I was lucky to have escaped with such light injuries, and I'm glad that it was me that fell into the hole rather than some student overburdened with a load of books (I reported the problem to the city as soon as I got out of the hospital).

Not only am I writing this as a warning to my fellow Loungers about the dangers of manholes, but I'm also writing it as a testament to the durability of leather jackets, especially those made of goatskin. I was wearing my Protocol/U.S. Wings goatskin Indy jacket, and I have no doubt that it saved my right side from being gashed or badly scraped. When I fell into the hole the rusty, pivoted-up manhole cover raked my right side from waist to armpit. At the hospital I examined my jacket with trepidation, but I found that, aside from some scuff and dirt/rust marks that easily wiped-off, the jacket wasn't damaged at all! I had heard that goatskin is tough, and now I have the proof.

So, in summary, DO NOT step on manhole covers/grates in the sidewalk, and if you want a tough, protective garment, you can't go wrong with goatskin.

 

[AmateisGal]

Oh my goodness! I'm so glad you're all right. What an experience! As I do a lot of walking downtown where there are plenty of manholes, I'm definitely going to give them a wide berth from now on.

 

[BeBopBaby]

I once pulled a blind woman out of a storm drain in a similar situation. I ran across a busy intersection because she had partially fallen out into traffic and I thought she was going to get hit by a car. It's amazing how much you can lift when your adrenaline starts pumping. I had seen her leg bend in a way that a normal leg shouldn't, but she refused help and asked that I just point her back in the direction she was walking.

As a survivor a few freak accidents of my own, I'm glad to hear you're okay.

 

[RedHotRidinHood]

I used to have an unreasonable fear of manholes and grates in the streets...guess it wasn't as farfetched as I thought! I am glad that you are ok, and that your "roadtested" goatskin jacket made it through fine as well!

 

[carter]

I'm glad to hear that your injuries are no worse but that's a scary account. It could have been far worse.

Did you notice if the city had cordoned off or repaired the manhole situation after being notified?

 

[lyburnum]

Eesh! That's actually really scary! Most people I know don't step on manholes because of superstition, forgetting the safety aspect of it too! I'd never really expected something like that to happen with a covered manhole

 

[Mr. Sable]

...Amateurs.

Oh, and get well soon!

 

[carter]

...Amateurs.

Oh, and get well soon!

lol lol lol

 

[BeBopBaby]

Eeeew... I hope that was clean water in your pic, Mr. Sable. lol I work for a company that makes valves for sewage and stormwater control and I know what can be lurking down there...

 

[Mr. Sable]

Y'gotta die of something, don'tcha? [huh]

I live in a modern city with separate sewage and stormwater systems. I'd never go into a sewer. It's cleaner than a kiddie pool down there for sure.

 

[Johnnysan]

YIKES! Glad you are well...at least, relatively speaking! Hope that you are on the mend and that the city does right by covering your medical expenses.

 

[PolkaDotMeggie]

I hope you are on the mend!

 

[carouselvic]

shysters for hire

THE D.A. if you need legal help I use the firm of Dewy, Cheatem and Howe. Tellem I sent you. Did it not about tear your arm off on the way through or was it not that deep? The natural history museum is quite good. I am also very impressed with their art museum. Get well.

 

[Feraud]

Glad to read your injuries are minor.

I have heard of people and pets being electrocuted when stepping on manhole covers in this city.

 

[Jovan]

You could possibly sue the city government for that, you know. Or at least tell them to pay your hospital bill.

Seriously though, glad you're okay. I think I know why my friend Mark owns a goatskin jacket and pants for his motorcycle now... that's gotta be some tough hide there!

 

[CanadaDoll]

Wow, I'm glad to hear you're okay!

Thanks for sharing that story, I'll be sure to step lightly around those things from here on in.

 

[Smithy]

The first night I was in Santiago de Chile (when we lived there), I got as drunk as a skunk and fell down a manhole. I still have a dent in my left kneecap but the fact I was so sozzled probably saved me from worse. Then again if I wasn't so baked I probably wouldn't have fallen down the thing!

 

[The D.A.]

Thanks to everyone for your well-wishes!

I haven't been back to the manhole to see if they've fixed it, but I plan on visiting it (carefully) tomorrow. I'm curious as to exactly what happened. Like I said, the lid was closed and flush to the sidewalk, so I wonder if the rim of the manhole gave way beneath the lid.

I can't help but laugh about it now (even though that makes my ribs hurt). It seems like such a ridiculous accident. I'm half dreading returning to work tomorrow, as I know my co-workers will never let me live it down. They've already dubbed me the "sewer rat."

P.S. Curse you Sable for being a Topper!

 

[Fletch]

Sad manhole story, coming from the other direction. Charley Straight, noted 1920s orchestra leader, spent much of the '30s working as an inspector for the Chicago water department. One evening in 1940, while coming up thru a manhole after dark, he was struck and killed by a passing car.

 

[Miss Brill]

no manholes for me...yet!

My grandmother slipped on an icy Chicago street once, landed on her rear, and without missing beat, a man walking behind her picked her up & plopped her back down on her feet and went on, never stopping his walk.