Question: What do skis, stilts, pogo sticks, unicycles, and roller skates have in common?
Answer: Anyone using them runs the risk of falling.
Richard Dawson or Steve Harvey might ask such a question and be privy to the answer printed on the card in his hand, but even the most dimwitted "Family Feud" contestant could guess the most popular response among 100 persons surveyed. These delightfully dangerous devices may have other things in common, but falling would have to be the first thing that pops into most people's heads.
Unless you're a circus clown and walk on stilts or ride a unicycle on a regular basis, any occasional attempt you make to do either of those things is likely to result in a fall or two, probably several.
If you tell your family or friends that you're going somewhere to walk on stilts or ride a unicycle – or ski, or pogo, or skate – what's the first thing they're going to ask when you get back?
“Did you fall?” Or, “How many times did you fall?”
They know people fall when they do those things. They're going to assume that you did, too. They're not going to be surprised or act like it was unexpected when you admit that you did, indeed, fall. They won't say, unless in jest: “Whoa! We never saw that coming.”
If you insist that you didn't fall even once, they're not going to believe you, and rightly so. Because you did fall and you know it.
You'll get the same reaction if you admit that you fell but insist that it wasn't your fault. Sure, sure, the equipment was defective, the floor was slippery, someone bumped you. Yeah, yeah, whatever.
Deltadawn Shamblen is suing the Southridge Grand Prix & Family Fun Center in Kanawha Circuit Court. It seems she fell at the Charleston facility last April while roller skating.
Whoa! We never saw that coming.