Common ways for slipping on ice
From snow to slush to ice, all of these things can cause your feet to fly out from underneath you in a split second, leaving you on your butt and contemplating why you live in a place with such long winters.
Everyone has fallen at least once from the winter conditions, and if you say you haven’t, you have either been lucky and caught yourself before looking like a fool or you’re lying. No one judges here when they see people fall because at this point it’s normal.
It snows, and the plows and shovels try to do their best, but walking is hard. This is especially true when warm weather comes around (meaning over 10 degrees) and things start to melt. This causes the ground to freeze later on, making it worse for walking conditions.
There are many types of falling styles, including ones where you end up catching yourself. Here is a list that will have you saying, “Oh, I’ve done that one before.”
I’ll Just Lay Here
The worst way to fall is when your legs get scooped up right from underneath you and you slam so hard on your back that you just have to lay there for a minute.
People will stare, and maybe after you are laying there motionless, they’ll penguin walk over to check on you. However, sometimes you need a second to catch your breath and analyze your pain.
Butt Buster
Walking to class is dangerous in the winter sometimes. Wearing layers can not only rescue you from the cold, but could also rescue your butt from a huge bruise.
Falling directly onto your butt is, most likely, the most common way to fall. It is when you fall and lose all senses to catch yourself. Before you know it, you are sitting on your butt in the middle of the road, trying to decide whether to leap back up, wipe off the snow and keep walking or to sit there for a second to allow your butt to regain feeling.
Cracked Screen
Nothing is worse than feeling the embarrassment of falling in front of others, except for when your phone takes the worse hit of all. When you’re falling to the ground and your first instinct is to save yourself, don’t because you’ll be needing a new phone after.
Imagine having your phone in your hand falling backward and using that hand to catch yourself. Now, your phone is cracked. So, just do the Butt Buster instead.
Ankle Breaker
By far, the most painful way to fall is when you try to catch yourself when you shouldn’t. When you’re falling to the ground, your initial response is to catch yourself, but sometimes that is the worst response you can have.
When your body weight comes crashing down on top of your foot, it will at least sometimes bruise, sprain or break it. So, be careful when deciding whether to catch yourself or not.
Splitting in Two
Catching yourself is nice because you don’t have to deal with the leftover bruises or the awkward limping away from the incident. But, when you catch yourself in the split, sometimes you wish you fell.
Ever had one foot go in front of you and you catch yourself by placing your back foot behind you? Welcome to the split. You probably just pulled a muscle.
The Bull
This is when walking conditions are slightly better and you no longer have to walk like a penguin everywhere. When taking a step your foot slips, creating a kicking motion to the back that makes it look like you’re an angry bull ready to charge full speed ahead.
There are many ways to fall, and more often than not they are all bad decisions. So, do what feels right in the moment and don’t feel embarrassed. We’ve all been there.