Jeopardy
by Jerry Harris

Today I put myself in jeopardy. I was using one of those bands used for exercise at work. In fact I have been using it for a few weeks. Well today I was listening to the 911 hearings and I was letting myself be absorbed by the dialogue. I was even a little stressed by the words I was hearing. So I grabbed my band that I keep under my desk. I was using the band in a sitting position. Not the recommended method however but one I use because it lets me hide from my co-workers as I use the band. So it was ironic that I had this accident that made me yell out loud in a screaming voice that I was hurt. I then had to explain I was using the band. I was using the band and with the band stretched it slipped off of my shoe and popped me in the eye. I lunged back in my chair and it fell over throwing me to the floor clutching my eyes. People in the entire workplace heard my scream. Persons close to me were asking me if I was ok. After a minute, it started coming back to me what happened. I would not open my eyes because I was scared of what I would find. I could roll my eyes so I felt somewhat better but the overwhelming embarrassment was making me feel clammy. I walked to the bathroom with one eye open as people looked on and some of them laughed. I got to the bathroom and there was Erv who was getting some wet towels for me. I thanked him and he left me alone to check my eye. The contact lens was in my hand. I took a look at my eye and it was blood red. I then realized that I could still see out of it. I wondered what to do with my contact lens. I wished I had more time but I felt I needed to respond quickly. I chose to put the contact lens back into my eye. I laughed at myself for being so silly and then went back to work. My eye was tingling but I went and sat at my desk. The computer was hard to look at and it made my head hurt. I popped three Tylenol and went back to the bathroom to check my eye. In the hall the contact lens came back out again. Once in the bathroom, I put the lens back in but my eye did not look that good. I was somewhat worried but I knew I had not yet calmed down. I went back to my desk and tried to work. The glare from the room and the computer monitor was hard to bear. I took a walk to my truck at the end of the parking lot. I got into the passenger side and tried to relax. I concentrated on my breath and before I knew it I was not conscious of the pain anymore. A few minutes passed. I became worried about being missed from my desk. So I grabbed my sunglasses because I thought they would help with the glare. I am thankful that my eye is working at this time. I hope it will be ok. The sunglasses have helped, as I look cool at my desk. I now know I must try and be more careful with such things. Also, hiding the use of such devices is not a good idea either.