The Occupational Hazards of...Housekeeping?

Two days ago the realization came to me -- rather forcibly -- that keeping house can be a very dangerous occupation. "What," some may ask, "could possibly happen to you in the safety of your own home?" What an excellent question!

Christmas decorations happen to be very hazardous, especially if one slips off the last three steps of the attic ladder while bringing down a heavy box of them. The results of such a mishap may include: landing in a heap next to the ladder and banging one's head against a nearby doorway. I must plead guilty to just such an accident -- and the Band-Aid on my pinky is proof.

I jokingly told my sister that I should go to bed and start the day over again. Perhaps I should have.

When I sew buttonholes on my machine (which I do manually using a zig-zag stitch), I am so concentrated that I tend to lean close to the machine. I lean closer, and closer, and...

WHAM!

There's a little metal arm that goes up and down in a rotating motion on the front of the machine, and it hit me plunk in the middle of the forehead. This has happened to me before, so I merely rubbed my forehead ruefully and continued. Ten minutes later, WHAM! I hit it again. Two days later, I still have a sore, swollen spot on my head.

Perhaps that injury was caused by my own stupidity. But how could I help getting my finger pinched in a cabinet while looking for a spice? Fortunately, the amount of skin on my body was only reduced by a cubic millimeter.

So if anyone ever scoffs at the dangers of housekeeping, I will now be able to enlighten them. But I think I've learned my lesson; I will try not to lean over my machine (it's bad for my posture, anyway), and I will be extremely careful when ascending or descending the attic stairs with a box.

Or maybe I could just buy a helmet.