When Everything Comes Crashing Down, Literally

I used to work in a smoke shop. We had shelves sitting in the middle of the worker area, holding dip and chew and cigarettes. They went nearly to the ceiling. Those things were rickety, and a stiff breeze would have toppled them.

So, you can guess what had happened when I came in one day and saw that the shelves were all gone. Someone told me the details of what happened, and it was an “OMG!” moment, to be sure.

The shelf decided to let go at the least opportune moment and fell over onto [Coworker]. It slammed her into the register and actually pinned her head there.

Bless the customer she had been waiting on; he got a rush of adrenaline, jumped clean over the counter into the worker-only area, and lifted it off of her.

A couple of big, burly security officers had to come in, pull everything off the shelves, and drag those menaces out of the building one at a time.

This was decades ago before the world got more lawsuit-savvy. Sadly, not much else was done, not even to check out other displays to make sure they were safe. To this day, [Coworker] STILL has back problems from the incident. 

Management didn’t even close the store. They just kind of shrugged with a blank face and a “Meh. Oh, well,” attitude. Oh, wait. I nearly forgot. They did do something: they griped for weeks about losing a display and having to pay for another one.

I’m so very, very glad I don’t work there anymore.