Trying to Do the Job Alone

Ecclesiastes 4:9,10: "Two are better than one, because they have a good
return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up.  But
pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!"

Dear Sir:

I am writing in response to your request for additional information.  In
block number three of the accident reporting form I put "trying to do the
job alone" as the cause of my accident.  You said in your letter that I
should explain more fully, and I trust the following details will be
sufficient.

I am a bricklayer by trade.  On the day of the accident, I was working alone
on the roof of a new six-story building.  When I completed my work, I
discovered that I had about five hundred pounds of brick left over.  Rather
than carry the bricks down by hand, I decided to lower them in a barrel by
using a pulley, which fortunately was attached to the side of the building
at the sixth floor.

Securing the rope at ground level, I went up to the roof, swung the barrel
out, and loaded the brick into it.  Then I went back to the ground level and
untied the rope, holding it tightly to insure a slow descent of the five
hundred pounds of brick.  You will note in block eleven of the accident
reporting form that I weigh 135 pounds.

Due to my surprise at being jerked off the ground so suddenly, I lost my
presence of mind and forgot to let go of the rope.  Needless to say, I
proceeded at a rather rapid rate up the side of the building.

In the vicinity of the third floor, I met the barrel coming down.  This
explains the fractured skull and broken collarbone.

Slowed only slightly, I continued my rapid ascent, not stopping until the
fingers of my right hand were two knuckles deep into the pulley.
Fortunately, by this time I had regained my presence of mind and was able to
hold tightly to the rope in spite of my pain.

At approximately the same time,  however, the barrel of bricks hit the
ground and the bottom fell out of the barrel.  Devoid of the weight of the
bricks, the barrel now weighed approximately fifty pounds.  I refer you
again to my weight in block eleven.  As you might imagine, I began a rapid
descent down the side of the building.  In the vicinity of the third floor,
I met the barrel coming up.  This accounts for the two fractured ankles and
the lacerations of my legs and lower body.

The encounter with the barrel slowed me enough to lessen my injuries when I
fell onto the pile of bricks and, fortunately, only three vertebrae were
cracked.

I am sorry to report, however, that as I lay there on the bricks - in pain,
unable to stand, and watching the empty barrel six stories above me - I
again lost my presence of mind.  I let go of the rope.

Moral of this tale: It doesn't pay to try to do the job alone.