Store Safety - It happened to me, could it happen to you?Jan 06 '04 Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line What happened to me could happen to you. Or worse, it could have been your child.
At the risk of making an a$$ out of myself, I am going to share with you an accident I had over the weekend. It wasn't my fault. It was no one's "fault". It was a freak accident, but I am hoping you heed my words and use care next time you are in a store. Saturday evening my husband and I were in Super Wal-Mart (we're in Virginia Beach, BTW) picking up groceries and some other stuff we needed. As we always do, we started out in Health and Beauty and worked our way thru the store until we got over to the grocery section. The dairy is in the back, go we grabbed eggs and milk. We reached the end of the section and stood near a Pepsi display. I was maybe two feet away with my back to it. The store was busy and since we weren't sure what all we needed to get, we tried to move out of the way so shoppers could get by us. After talking for maybe 30 seconds I received a blow to my lower back/right hip area and down. I yelled out in surprise and pain. My husband, who was standing next to the cart, but on the other side of me, checked to see if I was ok. It hurt. A lot. What happened? No one knows. The 24 pack Pepsi cubes fell over. No one was around them at the time. They just fell. There were 5 cases of Pepsi broke open, laying on the ground behind and around me. A female associate was about 3 isles down and I yelled "excuse me", and she came over. Apparently no one thought it was odd to see a grown woman crying standing next to a toppled Pepsi display since no one else around even asked of I was ok. I told the lady the display fell on me and she immediately starting picking up the Pepsi. She asked if I was hurt. Yes I was hurt. I couldn't put any weight on my right leg and my lower back hurt. She said she was going to go call a manager. A minute later she came over with another lady associate. She wanted to know what happened. We explained it to her. She asked if I was hurt. Yes, I was hurting. It had been several minutes and I was still standing there leaning on my cart. Come to find out she wasn't a manager. She went to call one. After a second page no manager answered the page. The second lady went to find one while the first lady was finishing picking up broken Pepsi cubes and cans. The second lady came back with a lady and a man. They, again, wanted to know what happened. They also wanted me to fill out and accident report. I was fine with that. I knew they would want me to. So, after getting hit by Pepsi cubes, and after a long wait, I am handed a report and a pen right there at the end of isle 14. I'm having issues standing and they couldn't even hand me a clip board? THe manager did offer to go and get me a chair, but when he came back with a wheel chair I was already finished and just wanted to go. Anyway, I got the report filled out. They said Wal-Mart would pay for my medical, if it was needed. They offered to call an ambulance, but even though I hurt I didn't feel it was ambulance worthy. We were almost done shopping anyway, so we headed out of the store with a copy of the accident report. So why am I whining about this here? I can't get one thing out of my head. What if it had been my son standing near that display? What if it was your child? Or a stroller? Ever pick up a 24 pack of soda? It's heavy. Multiply that times 5 cases and then throw it on someone. I'll bet it hurts. Imagine what could have happened if it would have been a toddler or something. I'm short, all of 5'3", but it still hurt my lower back when it hit. That isn't much lower than the top of my son's head. No one was near the display when it fell. It wasn't pushed over. No one took a case and let the others topple. It just fell out of no where. On the opposite end of the isle of the Pepsi display is a Coke display. Those could just as easily fall. Stores can be dangerous. When I was talking to my son's teacher about what happened she told me that at the same Wal-Mart a little girl was killed when a television cabinet or TV, since I found conflicting stories, fell on her. http://www.myparentime.com/articles/article183.shtml http://myphlip.pearsoncmg.com/cw/mpviewce.cfm?vceid=2666&vbcid=2422 Be careful when you go into the store, especially with your children. If possible keep them in a cart and away from the shelves where they could pull things down on themselves. To many times I have seen children climbing shelves, especially in the toy department, and their parents either no where around or not paying attention. It only takes a second for an accident to happen. Don't let it be your child that it happens to. Side note My husband took me to the ER Saturday night and I was given pain killers. I was told that if I was still not showing improvement within 3-4 days to follow up with my doctor. I am still very sore. I have an appointment with my doctor for a follow up tomorrow.  |
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