Every afternoon, my hearing appliances come off, I lie down on my bed and I have an hour and a half to two hour sleep. Sometimes I don’t actually sleep. I lie there with my eyes shut and just kind of…drift. I shut down for that time. Since my accident (and resulting TBI), this is something that is totally necessary for me to do. If I don’t do it, I am not as ‘alive’ as I want to be in the evenings! Also, my one eye goes to half it’s normal size and my face takes on a kind of squonk look!
When I was living in Durban, I was indulging in my “afternoon pursuit”, sleeping, when tragedy struck. CREEEK went my bed. CREEAKK…KERBLASTOWHAM!
Yours truly was lying on the floor amidst splinters and pieces of wood. My bed had collapsed! It doesn’t have springs. Its base is made up of strips of wood that traverse from one end of the bed to the other. Robust, durable and sturdy pieces of wood. But not robust, durable and sturdy enough! Shoot, I am not THAT heavy, I wasn’t even doing anything on the bed! It would be a different matter if I was making love on the bed or seeing how high I could jump! KERBLASTOWHAM! One can understand that. But to be gently floating through the world of dreams and then KERBLASTOWHAM! is no laughing matter!
In actual fact that is exactly what I did. I looked at all the debris surrounding me and the laughter erupted from my deepest parts. Pandora, my cockatiel, who had witnessed this whole spectacle, moved from panic stricken horror to sheer disgust and disdain at my hilarity. I had tears pouring down my cheeks. When I had sobered up and made myself some coffee, I stood looking at the debacle in my room and thought: Where do I get a Bed-Fixer?
Have you ever seen a ‘Bed-Fixer Shop? The Yellow Pages doesn’t have any ‘Bed-Fixers’ in it. Well suffice to say, I eventually tracked down a Handyman!
My bed now has VERY robust, VERY durable and VERY sturdy pieces of wood making up the base. I have been assured that these ones are unbreakable. All KERBLASTOWHAM’s are banished.
Sigh. My bed collapsing in a heap! Am I accident prone, or AM I ACCIDENT PRONE???? Laugh! Maybe I’m just….accident prone!
Wow! I love that word! “Kerblastowham?!” Did I spell it correctly? : )
I couldn’t help but think of my daughter’s bed we just bought her. It seems very sturdy (made of all wood). She will turn 2 next month and has yet to sleep on it because the rest of her “Big girl room” is not complete yet. I can only hope it is as sturdy as it looks and feels. : ) Thanks for posting this. Regardless how sturdy we think something is, it can eventually go “Kerblastowham.” Heck, even the Titanic did….
That is when you wish there was a video camera running. would have been hilarious to watch.
Smile! Peter, you have a good day too!
I’m laughing, but laughing quietly as suddenly terrified my bed is going to collapse underneath me!
Laugh – It can happen, Sandi, it can happen!!!
Oh Yes I remember it! I still have a laugh when I think about it! Xx
You have a beautiful antique bed, Mums, but I would be VERY worried about it collapsing!!! The middle has that look about it…….!!!
Not surprising as its been slept in for nearly 53 years and I think it’s done pretty well up to now!!!
Occasionally I also ‘jolt’ during my morning ‘think’. Luckily the bed has remained intact.
My father-in-law lives in Pinetown. His shower cubicle was fitted with a wooden seat with the same constuction as your bed, i.e. wooden slats all painted white and neat. When he was 90 he sat down on the bench and it also collapsed suddenly, KER-SPLASH. It could have given him serious injuries, but he was just rattled. He was not overweight at about 70 Kg.
Maybe the same company that made your bed made his bench. he-he. I’m writing this to warn others that these wooden benches do tend to rot from the inside. Many people us these plastic chairs in the shower is well – they often collapse spectacularly and cause injuries.
I would suggest that people rather obtain special shower-chairs from ‘Dischem’ or ‘CA Mobility’ which are safetly made for the purpose. Thank you for shareing your experience. It is sure to prevent a similar incident, if only 1 it’s worth it.
Have a happy day,
Peter Wegerle in George ZAR.
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