I was last in a six- or seven-deep line at an east-of-Boston Mexican fusion shop on Friday and while waiting patiently, I noticed something amiss with the patron just before me: both sneakers’ laces were dangling freely.
What largely factored into my mindset was a memorably grueling injury I incurred two-plus years ago because of loose laces. Indeed, one of my most painful injuries with a longer-than-anticipated healing period.
As I began stepping forward with my left foot in early February 2020, I suddenly could go no further while that foot was suspended immobile in the air and the left side of my body propelled forward because my right foot was planted on the left sneaker’s loose lace.
Because of this careless, unintentional tethering, I proceeded to lose my balance and fall as my lower-left rib cage first impacted the ground.
Upon standing up again, I already knew the cause of the fall. But then the debilitating agony began in the localized area of my body that endured the force.
With the wind knocked out of me, my lower-left torso was shaken up as pain radiated and shot throughout the region.
With all that (and so much more) in mind, I decided to open my mouth.
‘Hey Man’, I said to the gentleman and he turned his head toward me. I then pointed to his feet and told him how I once suffered severe aftereffects for months when tripping over my laces and enduring bruised ribs.
My apprehension was based on not wanting to tell someone how to dress or for one to get the wrong idea about me. I am not in the business of being an overbearing busybody. But I realized the importance of speaking gently and with tact as part of a primary motive: prevention from suffering the tormenting consequences of bruised ribs.
I also noted that just the nite prior in Kendall Square, Cambridge, I had stated the same warning to a Spaniard, explaining to him with a straight face that he and I combined were nowhere nearly as pretty as the Barcelona native. But, alas, she had only half as many sneakers with loose laces.
Following the injury, doctors appointments led to X-rays which, thankfully, were negative. The day prior to seeing a physician, world health specialists had decided on a shortened, more convenient name for a scourge that had begun galloping the globe: COVID-19.
While in line to get my lunch, I explained to the gentleman that broken or fractured ribs present a grave danger to internal organs as they may be pierced, consequently causing an even more serious injury.
I also noted that recovering from bruised ribs can be anguishing. Inhaling, exhaling, coughing, sneezing, standing up, sitting down, getting into and leaving bed, walking, turning one’s head — all are enormously bothersome. Treatment options include painkillers and applying ice packs, all while awaiting recovery.
Within a day or two after that injury, I met my parents and my Dad informed me I appeared as if someone had knocked me around some.