Man down

I walked into the restroom at work yesterday, and noticed our support services guy, just standing with his back to the sinks, looking at the stalls. I looked over, and there, lying on the floor in one of the stalls, was one of my co-workers.

He was lying on his back and side, looking up, feet near the toilet, head up by the door. Since the support services guy was just standing there, and the guy on the floor was smiling, and talking into his cell phone, it seemed at first glance that nothing was amiss. This was not a sight I was expecting to see, so my first thought was a bit illogical. I thought he was fixing the bottom of the stall door, tightening a screw, or something.

So, being a smarty, I blurted "Are you all right?" Floor guy replied, "I've been better." As I looked a bit closer, I noticed he was lying on a towel, and had a big ice pack pressed against his back.

I looked over at Mr. Support Services, and he said "he had a back spasm and can't get up."

Turns out that floor guy unloaded a pickup full of bricks, or something the night before. He went into the stall to take care of business, but when he bent over to take care of the paperwork, his back seized up and he fell on the floor.

So the poor guy was lying there, suffering the indignity of circumstances. He probably had to wave his hand under to door, a la Larry Craig, when someone entered the bathroom, to get help. And help had to help him, er, finish the operation. The guy laid on the floor with the ice for 10-15 minutes. How they got the stall door open is unknown. Floor guy had trouble even moving his legs for a little while, though eventually he got up and was able to drive home.

And, worst of all, some other guy came into the bathroom while the guy was lying there, and went into the stall next to him to use the facility as the poor guy laid there.