Food for thought?: Rainy days and Mondays always get me down...

So last Monday, I was in a somewhat embarrassing and painful situation. I was biking back towards my dorm after my Filipino-Americans class to meet Emi for lunch when my left bike pedal decided to give out on me. I stood up as I biked up the hill heading to Manzanita Village and within an instant, I was on the floor with my bike on top of me. The whole thing happened within a second, but to me, it seemed like it was happening in slow motion. I remember feeling my left bike pedal fall off and I remember falling off my bike and onto the ground. I also remember trying to avoid hitting my head and falling on my arm... but it all happened so fast.

It took a few seconds for me to comprehend what had just happened. The guy (who luckily was the only person there at the time) who was walking down the hill ran up to me and asked if I was alright. I tried to get up, but my legs were tangled around my bike--which was lying on top of me-- and I just couldn't move. The guy helped me get up and asked if I was alright. I picked up my bike and laughed off the pain that I felt on both of my legs. He picked up my missing bike pedal (which had landed about 8 feet away from my bike) and tried to put it back on. I felt bad for him because his hands got dirty from the mixture of grease and dirt on my bike, but I also felt relieved that someone was there to help me.

After a few minutes of trying to fix my bike pedal, the guy discovered that the ridges on the metal part of the pedal was bent. I told him that it was okay and I would just get it fixed at the bike shop. I thanked him for his help and walked my bike towards my dorm. I called Emi and told her that my bike pedal came off and I couldn't meet her for lunch. I kind of felt aggravated that she sounded so nonchalant (and kind of insensitive) about what had happened to me, but I ignored it because I started to feel pain in my legs and I wanted to get back to my dorm as soon as possible. I parked my bike, left my broken pedal in my basket, and took the elevator up to my room on the 4th floor.

As soon as I walked into my room, I lifted up my left pant leg and saw a diagonal scratch about 4 inches long on my calf. I opened my closet and turned my back towards the mirror on my closet door. Shockingly, I learned that my jeans had ripped on the back of my thighs and blood was visible through the tear. There were two parallel cuts behind my right thigh that were about 3 inches long. I immediately took off my pants (haha), cleaned the cuts on both legs, bandaged them, and put on a fresh pair of jeans. I called Emi and told her that I wouldn't be able to make it to class because my "injuries were worse than what I had expected" and that I had to go to the bike shop to get my pedals replaced. She sounded the same as she had earlier and said that she'd let me borrow her notes later.

After that, I called Daniela, told her what happened, and asked her if she could accompany me to the bike shop. A few minutes later, I met her at the dining commons, had lunch, and then walked over to the bike shop near I.V. Theater. We left my bike there and walked all the way to the other end of campus to get to our Physical Anthro discussion section. After class, we walked across campus again and back to the bike shop to pick up my bike. Afterwards, we went to Starbucks and I treated Daniela because she went through the trouble of helping me get my bike fixed. :) I was happy that my pedals were replaced, but now I am pretty much traumatized and scared of standing up on my bike. When I got back to my room, I showed Emi my cuts and she was shocked. She said that she didn't know that my injuries were that bad. I guess that explains her nonchalance on the phone.

I guess what I got out of this is that I need to stop putting things off until something bad happens. I noticed that bike pedals were starting to deteriorate last quarter and I made a mental note to replace them, but I just never got around to it. So the moral of the story is: STOP PROCRASTINATING! I should probably take my own advice and finish reading one of my Women's Studies books... I have to write a paper on it and it's due next week. Adios.