Once when I was with my mom going past Newark, New Jersey on the highway, (I can’t remember which one) there an enormous CRASH!!! near my head accompanied by shattering glass. Someone threw something off the overpass–we think. It happened so fast that we’re not even sure if there was an overpass or if someone lobbed something from the side of the road. Regardless, something came from somewhere to pulverize the back passenger window. I was in the front passenger seat. Glass flew far enough to land in my lap and at my feet. Neither of us were hurt–shocked, but not hurt.
I thought of this incident after reading about what happened at the St. James Theater in New York City last night during the evening show of “Gypsy.” A metal plate fell out of the ceiling, hitting a young woman in the head and just missing the neck of the friend of the article’s writer,Tara Parker-Pope. Tara goes on to think about other things that fall on us unexpectedly when we are out in the world and what we can do about it.
People are responding in the comment section to share what has fallen too close for comfort–either on them, or next to them. Here are some of the mentions:
- part of a ceiling (more than one mention)
- an apple
- a slab of ice
- a quart of milk
- a gargoyle
- an air conditioner (more than one mention)
- a flower pot
And to anyone who happened to be walking past Carew Tower in Cincinnati, Ohio a few years ago. . . if there was a pair of black sunglasses that fell on you. They are mine. I was leaning over to look at the view. Sorry. [via New York Times]