J, Sammy and I were in St Petersburg Russia some time in November walking around Peter and Paul’s Cathedral, (I think). There was this huge open courtyard where people were standing taking pictures, playing in the snow and sliding on patches of ice. As we meandered through the vast open space, we came across a very long smooth patch of ice. I was wearing my comfortable dress shoes that allowed me to slide like I was wearing ice skates; without the control that skates provide.
I took a running start and gracefully hit the ice trying my best to keep my balance. At the exact same time and young teenager started his run on the other side of the ice patch. He also hit the ice with poise. We both looked up and our eyes locked and widened ever so slightly.
Now if you were him, what would go through your mind if a 300lbs 6’2” man was sliding toward you at a fairly good clip? I guess it would be like an average U-Haul truck about to have a head on collision with Toyota Corolla. As we got closer to each other, I really wished either one of us was wearing better shoes because no matter how hard we tried, the impending collision was unavoidable.
Visually it was like a pinball bouncing off a bumper. We collided and he bounced off me to the left and fell flat on his back. I stayed up for just a moment longer and down I went too. We were both ok but we laughed, smiled at each other and shook hands. I hope that young man will always remember that day.
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