Speaking of screamers, you never know when there might be a news crew near to catch you over-reacting.
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0A Cautionary Tale
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Speaking of screamers, you never know when there might be a news crew near to catch you over-reacting.
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Funny!
Oh, my!
Did you catch the not-so-discrete “Disgusting” comment as she stepped into the tub?? This lady was not enjoying this job, even before the mishap.
woah!
Maybe she had the wind knocked out of her?
And be careful what career you choose. Avoid any that would allow your colleagues to film your humiliation so the whole world could see rather than graciously covering it with love.
That was really really bad. I don’t even understand how that happened and I saw it on tape. Weird.
That is pretty darn humiliating. I hate to laugh but it had me laughing for a good bit.
My husband was watching this (again) the other day. I came very close to suggesting he get it to the good ladies at Femina…so priceless. I don’t feel bad for laughing.
HILARIOUS! I thought a really funny part was the newsanchors response afterward – you could tell they didn’t quite know what to say or do!
AHH!! I am soo thankful for that screamer!! 🙂 I love this video and it has me in tears laughing every time I see it! I’m glad you posted it!
Hmm…am I the only person who watched this video and didn’t laugh, but just felt sorry for the poor woman? I’m not trying to point fingers or anything like that, but how do we know if that woman didn’t seriously injure herself? Now I’m all for humor and fun, but as Christian women are we loving our neighbor when we see them fall down and hurt themselves and we all giggle and laugh? Perhaps I’m just too sensitive about this whole thing and need to lighten up a bit… 🙂
Maybe it just hits too close to home for me — too close to my own faults and failings — but I found the video painful rather than amusing to watch. I wish I hadn’t watched it. I wish I hadn’t participated in further humiliating this woman, whether she deserved it or not. It’s the same reason I hate sitcoms — they’re based so heavily on embarrassment, and I have too much shame in my own life to find other people’s shame entertaining.
When Noah lay drunk and naked in his tent, the victim of his own foolish choices, Shem and Japheth walked in backward to cover him. I know none of us owes this woman the honor they owed their father, but shouldn’t we, out of regard for the dignity and worth of an equal (WLC 131), desire to conceal her emotional nakedness?
Thanks for sharing this. It is the perfect example of how NOT to react in a public situation. Watching this footage, I was able to laugh at myself thinking back on times when I’ve overreacted and looked somewhat like this woman. The next time I get hurt I think a little voice inside my head will be saying, “grape lady, grape lady, grape lady.” =)
Helen, I agree, I think she had the wind knocked out of her which is very scary.
…a scary feeling
Hey all-
thanks for the comments. Here’s how I see it in a nutshell: we aren’t being malicious or snarky – just laughing. Laughter is one of the fundamental controllers of behaviors in society and there isn’t anything wrong with that. The title of my post summed it up “a cautionary tale” – don’t go and do anything like this yourself!
The Grape Lady was Melissa Saunders. She broke five ribs and punctured a lung.
I see nothing wrong with posting this video for the sheer fact that it’s funny. I think it’s pretty dang funny and I laughed out loud (especially at Mr. Elloquence afterwards).
However, I’m uneasy with the attached “cautionary tale” referring back to a more serious instructional “Screamers” post (that I can agree with). We watch the funny mishap, feel that mix of sympathy and guilty amusement for what we can’t change, (perhaps intense amusement) 🙂 but then it’s that caution to all the ladies to “not do anything like this yourself” or to “overreact” when and if we do that leaves a little dark cloud over the funny.
What exactly? Never stomp grapes? Never go on camera? Never trip (at least, in front of people)? Never moan and gasp for air when you break five ribs and puncture your lung? And according to who?
Just seems like maybe a confusing post for impressionable, good humored gals who may come here sincerely seeking wisdom, guidance (and laughter too). Attaching such vague caution to that video is I think what perhaps took the fun out of it?
Laughter = very good.
Protocol for everything = Kinda heavy?
It’s just the way it often tends to read (for me at least).
All this said of course with the utmost respect and christian love for the authors.
Peace out Femina Ladies.
I believe her name is Melissa Sander, and I haven’t been able to find any factual information about her being injured. The only mention that I saw of it, aside from claims that she had been hurt, was that she had had the wind knocked out of her and that the winery claimed she was just fine. (I saw that on a link to a snopes message board.) There was an article on oddculture.com that did not mention any serious injury, neither did her bio page from working as a weekend meteorologist in New York.
I think that if you can laugh at yourself about something, you should definitely be able to laugh at others. I am deathly afraid of camel crickets, and I wouldn’t blame anyone for guffawing over my scampering away from, and stupid screamy noises about, them.
I guess what I will never understand is how watching someone fall down and listening to them yelling in pain is funny… What’s funny about it? The sound? The falling action? Call me overly sensitive, but I think it sounds just a wee bit cold-hearted. “Oh look, she fell down and nearly hurt herself! Hehehehehe! Listen to her hollering in pain! Hahaha!” Doesn’t sound like the most Christian thing to say… Is this what we want to encourage our daughters to do when a classmate or friend falls and injures themselves? Should we encourage compassion and kindness (“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted…”) or encourage them to just laugh their heads off because apparently it’s “pretty darn funny”?
I do agree however, that if someone has a random phobia of certain critters, etc. (as I do about spiders) and they go screeching and hollering in the other direction then yes, have a good laugh at them! I don’t mind a bit when my husband laughs at me as I go shrieking in the other direction yelling “Sppiiiidder!” I am all for a good laugh, laughter is vital to the life of the Christian! But shouldn’t we try to be careful about WHY we’re laughing?
Just a thought…
I do believe that slipping and falling is pretty funny. You can have compassion and laughter. My kids take some of the most amazing spills, and I definitely laugh about it…and I also hug them for the proper amount of time (as determined by moi), and send them on their merry way. I don’t feel a lot of compassion for this lady, to be honest…mostly because she was trying to cheat when she fell over. (The grapes of wrath strike those that don’t abide by the rules!) To me it feels like taking ourselves too seriously not to be able to laugh over our (especially more trivial) hurts. Are they that important? And should I assume that people are so sensitive that they can’t handle the laughter? Perhaps if I know someone (not my own child) who is sensitive this way I would avoid laughing. I feel somehow like I’m regurgitating a Doug Wilson/Credenda article. Oh dear…
You raise excellent points, thank you for your gracious response. (I never thought about the “cheating” aspect of it – interesting!) I tend to be a clumsy person who gets banged up a lot so perhaps I just related to the “grape-lady” on some level or another. 🙂 I suppose at the end of the day, different things make different folks crack up, so who am I to point fingers and attribute motives? Let’s just hope as clumsy as I am, that I never have my own “grape lady” moment, haha.
I am a serious clutz. I believe there was a series of books when I was kid called Megan the Clutz. I avoided those for obvious reasons… 😛 (There’s nothing like running into the back of a parked truck on your bike because you are turned around bragging about being the fastest one up the hill…At least I was only seven when I did that one…)
Oh, or how’s about trying to show off your bike riding skills by wobbling and weaving sharply back and forth, while riding down a steep hill only to go flying out of control and wipe out. Even better, you were riding by yourself while coming back from the camp store, and it’s a good haul back to your parents camper. Better yet, as you lay bawling away in the middle of the road, bruised and bleeding, a big, burly, scary looking man comes bounding into the road towards you – thankfully he ends up being one of the nicest folks you will ever meet, and he and his wife fix you up quite nicely and haul you over to your parents campsite where you get to explain how you got all these battle scars. Oh yes, that wobbling thing with the handle bars that your parents told you not to do? Ahem, that would be why! I think I was about 6 or 7 at the time too! 🙂
:highfive:
Right back atcha! 🙂