OT: Life in the Trenches, A New Respect

[Bullethead 12]

Thanks for your concern and the warning for next time Bullethead. I was told pretty much the same thing by my neighbor when he stopped by yesterday. He is one of our First Reponders, and when he looked at the pit he said, "You didn't really sit down in there and work did you?" I said I did. Then he said, "At least tell me you had your cell phone with you." I had not. He just shook his head and told me I'm lucky I wasn't now a statistic.

 

Have you filled the hole in yet? That can get you, too. And the longer the hole stays open, the less stable it gets...

 

Stand behind the spoil pile and throw dirt from maximum range. If you have to get close to the edge (which you shouldn't, put down plywood sheets to spread your weight. And while having a cell phone is nice, it won't help you if your arms are pinned so it's best to have somebody standing by at a safe distance ;).

 

This proves yet again that we don't actually learn from our mistakes, we just find better and more creative ways of making them.

 

Well, I think you've learned from this one

 

I'll tell you a story....

 

When my Grandma died about 30 years ago, before I knew anything about the dangers of trenches, I got caught in a collapse. I was at the foot on the left side of the coffin and the dirt was piled right at the grave's edge on that side, so the 2 guys ahead of me had to clamber over it. We got the coffin lined up and were in the process of lowering it onto the straps when my side of the grave collapsed. It started with me and spread towards the head, so the middle pallbearer next also went in but the guy at the front managed to jump clear. And of course all the spoil, now robbed of support, cascaded into the grave on top of us.

 

This all happened in a flash. I suddenly found myself in a sitting position, eye-level with the bottom of the coffin and my legs across the grave under it, as dirt poured down over my shoulders. Because we'd dropped the coffin about 6" onto the straps, it was bouncing badly and I could hear Grandma rattling around in it. My biggest fear was that it would dislodge the strap rails and fall on my legs so I started struggling to free myself. Fortunately for me, the funeral director was right behind me and had a superhuman adrenaline rush. He grabbed me under the arms and literally threw me out of the hole onto the remains of still-collapsing spoil pile. I had to run in place to keep from going back in but at least I was out.

 

Me, the guy at the head of the coffin, and the funeral directon now worked to free the middle pallbearer. This was complicated because he was a big, fat guy and his widest part was wedged under the coffin. Plus of course, the collapse was continuing. But somehow, after what seemed like an eternity but was probably only 15 seconds or so, we got him out and all of us made it to the head of the grave where we were supposed to stand by the preacher.

 

At this point, we all felt pretty miserable for screwing up the solemn occasion. We were covered in mud, the grave was about 3/4 filled in, the flowers had fallen off the coffin and been trampled down into the mud, and Grandma was probably now face down inside the box. I wanted to run and hide. But when I slowly lifted my gaze to the congretation that had followed us to the grave, I could see they were all struggling to keep from laughing out loud. Even the preacher had trouble getting started with his lines. In fact, afterwards everybody said it was the most entertaining funeral they'd ever been to, or that they didn't know the church was doing a "bury 1, get 2 free" deal.

 

Just goes to show, NOBODY there recognized the dangers there, nor appreciated how close we came to being there permanently. So don't feel bad for not knowing about trench safety beforehand. Since then, I've made it a point at all funerals I've been to to check out the grave ahead of time and have things made safer if necessary.

 

And it is something of a distinction to say I've been buried and risen from the grave

[Hasse Wind 46]

I wonder how many people have died in burial accidents?

 

Crematoria are safer. But if you do happen to fall inside one when it's operating, you'd better get out quickly.

[RAF_Louvert 101]

.

 

BH wrote:

And it is something of a distinction to say I've been buried and risen from the grave.

Well, you're in some pretty fine company with that distinction.

 

Great story BTW Bullethead. If you aren't already doing so, you really should be writing your memoirs, and I am dead serious about that.

 

.

[Creaghorn 10]

.

 

BH wrote:

Well, you're in some pretty fine company with that distinction.

 

Great story BTW Bullethead. If you aren't already doing so, you really should be writing your memoirs, and I am dead serious about that.

 

.

 

absolutely