Thursday, April 29, 2010

And Then There Was the Slow, Painful Fall

We met some friends at Chick-fil-A today (from here on out, to be referred to as CFA). We have quite a history of meeting at CFA. In fact, it's where we met the very first time. It's become a bit of a habit. Who am I kidding? I've probably eaten about 3 times my body weight in CFA already this year....

It's nice to get out, good to not have to fix lunch, and the kids get some energy out. But it's crazy. Wrangling 4 kids under the age of 3, making sure everyone eats a substantial amount of chicken nuggets, Polynesian sauce and french fries is exhausting. Thankfully two of those kids are still in high chairs, or what I like to call "restrained". (Note: If you have more than 1 child and need to get anything accomplished, restraining one of them will result in much quicker success. Think high chairs, pack 'n plays, bouncers, etc.)

Today, I went to order the food while Courtney kept an eye on Grey, who was in his high chair, and Sam, who was supposed to be in the playground area. Supposed to be in the playground area. He bolted. Not a huge deal because he ran right up to the cash registers to find me.

I turned around from the napkin/ketchup/straw area to, "Mommy! Mommy, where are you?!"
"Right here. I'm right here buddy", I told him as he started running towards me. Towards me and the elderly lady who was between us and just so happened to pick the most inopportune time to step away from the other side of the napkin/ketchup/straw area. Just as I was reminding him to watch where he's going, Sam bumped into the lady. He didn't bump into her real hard but I guess it was mid-stride and enough to make her lose her balance because my 2 1/2 year old, gently knocked over the woman. Knocked her over as in she fell, slowly, down on the ground and dropped her purse, spilling its contents all over the floor.

I quickly knelt down, apologized and asked if she was ok. Didn't get much of a response. I looked up at Sam who looked completely freaked out and firmly told him to go back to the table. Thankfully the child chose to obey.

I asked her again if she was ok and then looked up, desparately, at the CFA employees because I didn't know what the heck to do. She wouldn't get up and I certainly couldn't lift her up on my own. Cue three huge, male employees rushing over as the cashier I'm looking at asks if we need to call 911. The lady doesn't answer so I say, "yea, I think so." I have no idea. What could it hurt? Then fallen lady pipes up and says she doesn't need an ambulance and she's fine. If you're fine, why are you still laying on the CFA floor gripping your side and grimacing?

Huge, male employees help her up and she continues to rub her side in the rib area, then her chest. All the while everyone is asking if she's ok and she keeps saying, "yes, I'll just go sit down for a little while and see." I handed her purse to her, apologized profusely and asked if I could do anything. Nope.

At this point, I figure she's probably embarrassed (like I would be) and wants all the attention off her. So, I gather my food/napkins/straws and head back to our table to recount what just went down to Courtney.

Honestly, I didn't really relax until the lady left. It was an accident, obviously and she really didn't seem to be badly hurt but I felt horrible.

What are you supposed to do in a situation like that? Seriously, what would you have done?

10 comments:

Laura said...

Kind of like the time I "pushed" Mawmaw down at WalMart? It's pretty much terrible. Poor little Sam!

Camille said...

Honestly, you did the exact right thing. You didn't run off and you didn't try to pretend like it didn't happen. I'm surprised that CFA didn't write up an incident report (which maybe they did?), because if the lady were to sue anyone she'd most likely sue CFA and not the sweet pregnant lady with two kids in tow. But you don't have anything to worry about - you handled it perfectly and it's just an unfortunate accident. Hope you were able to enjoy your nuggets under the stress.

Natalie said...

I would have done exactly what you did. Honestly, the fact that she wasn't responding says to me she may have just been irritated. Strangers don't have much patience with other people's children. Oh well. I think you handled it well. :)

Lauren said...

I totally agree with Camille and Natalie - you did the exact right thing. So sorry that happened to you!

Jenna said...

oh man. it's moments like those when i need clinical strength antiperspirant!! stress!!!!

oh well. it's over.

Laura said...

Greta & Julie, check out Jenna's comment. She must be related to us!

Shea said...

I'm shocked this hasn't happend to us before now that I think about it, and I would have done the same thing you did. Such a hard situation! You did it right though!

Courtney said...

i mean, what else could you do?? it was a total accident but one of those great additions to an already hectic and stressful morning. gotta love it. i hope it won't stop you from future cfa visits! they're worth it!

Lindsay said...

Ugh... How horrible! I honestly can't think of anything else you could have done. Poor Sam. Poor lady. Poor YOU!

Rachel said...

Oh I'm so sorry - I would have totally felt awful till she was gone too - my guilt knows no bounds. I think you did a great job - it's just one of those times that's unavoidably awful.