I Fall to Pieces

I divided my classroom into four quadrants - Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree, and Strongly Disagree. My speech class was beginning the unit on debate, and I wanted to let them move during the discussion. We pushed the desks into a tight square in the middle to make room and I read aloud the first prompt. As the students headed for their sections, I looked for a place to stand where I could guide the discussion, yet stay out of their way. I spotted it - the conglomeration of desks in the middle of the room had a convenient hole with a chair in it, three desks deep in on any side.

Being in a skirt, I opted to walk over the desks rather than scoot. I'm often standing on top of things in my room, and I'm usually pretty good at standing on the part of the desktop that is directly over the legs. But the chair in the hole in the middle of the desks that I was aiming for was off-center, and an OCD-ness tickled me.

I stretched my left foot down to try to hook the chair and nudge it to be in the center. One of its legs caught on a desk leg, though, and it wouldn't budge. I reached a little farther, then a little bit more...

Then, in sudden slow motion, the desk I was standing on tipped one way, the chair I was adjusting slid out from under my foot the other way, and I toppled Alice-in-Wonderland style, head over heels down in the middle of a pile of desks, papers, my skirt, and that off-center chair.

The students froze for a moment, staring at all they could see of their speech teacher - two black-tight-clad legs and a pair of Clarks shoes waving up in the air from the middle of a collapsed pile of desks.

After the moment of disbelieving shock, several of them dashed to my aid, picking up the equipment and papers that I had knocked to the ground; while I righted myself, giggling. I kept laughing as I reassured my students as they asked over and over again if I was okay.

And I am. A lovely big blue bruise is blossoming on my arm with a companion on my leg, but I'm fine. I keep smiling, though, at the image of myself turned properly upside down.

Oh, and I'm also grateful that I wore opaque tights today.