Newton’s Laws Of Promotion

(I am a senior physics major at the local university and have been working the same retail job since I was 16 (a little over 5 years). This particular encounter happens as I am working in the back stockroom.)

Manager: *to me* “DON’T YOU DARE DROP THAT BOX! YOU’LL BREAK WHAT’S INSIDE!”

(Note: I am on top of a 10 foot ladder with a box that is easily 3/4 as tall as me. There’s no way to get the box down safely.)

Me: “Don’t worry. It’s not going to break. They’re shoes, and even so, I was just going to drop it, not throw it, which means that the acceleration is only due to gravity at 9.8 m/s^2 . I’m only up about 3 meters, so knowing F=m*a, the force isn’t going to be large enough to even dent the box, let alone damage the contents!)

(The manager was quiet after that, and I got my work done.)