When the weather gets cold and our spirits get down, ice comes along and settles on the ground — just to make your day a little more complicated. With the ice comes a fear of falling in front of everyone and being absolutely mortified.
Although it may not seem like a big deal, when you’re the one who falls, your head fills with embarrassment as you stand up and try to move on from it. It happens to everyone at least once, so why does it still feel embarrassing?
On one of the iciest days of the year, I was slowly waddling towards the bus loop on campus without a thought in my mind that I would slip and fall. I thought that by walking very slowly I would be lucky enough not to fall. I was mistaken. I was almost to the library when I happened to shuffle across a particularly icy patch and fell. It wasn’t just a normal fall though, it was a dramatic fall, like the kind you see on TV when someone slips on a banana peel and falls backwards with their arms flailing and everything.If that wasn’t bad enough, about five minutes later when I was already pretending like the fall never happened, I fell again. It was embarrassing to say the least. Why couldn’t I have fallen when no one was around?
To prevent slipping on ice in the future, there are a few things that can be done. Other than wearing proper winter boots and walking with caution, the University itself can salt walkways sooner than it has in the past so that fewer students slip on the icy grounds.
After a fall, keeping an eye on your body is very important. If you feel some pain a few days later, consulting a chiropractor or doctor may be a good idea.
At the end of the day, the embarrassment is normal and it happens to everyone. As long as you didn’t get hurt, that’s all that matters.
Feature photo by Alora Griffiths/The Ontarion