Wherein stupidity DOES hurt.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Today we got a call to carry out an adjustable sofa for a customer. It comes unassembled in a box, and it is about the biggest piece of furniture we have that comes in one box.

At first, the cashier called because the customer wanted to know how big the box was, and if it would fit in her car. I told her it most certainly would not fit in a car (it's 4 feet wide and taller than I am, and I'm 6'1").

Well, the customer decided to try and take it anyhow, so we lugged it up to the front while the customer pulled up in her ratty old Ford Taurus.

We manager to get about one foot of the box in the trunk, leaving the other 5+ feet hanging out and dropping her car's rear end considerably. The little bit we got in the trunk was wedged in pretty good, so the chances of it falling out of the trunk were slim to none.

Customer spent some time pissing and moaning--"I really gotta try and get this home now, I wish I knew somebody with a truck, how am I going to get this up the stairs?"--and then hauled out a black rubber bungee strap to try and tie down her trunk.

Now these straps are not the most elastic things in the world, so she really had to pull on it to get it near her bumper. All off a sudden I heard FWOING--POW--OWWW! DAMMIT!

The lady lost her grip on the strap as she was stretching it and it popped up and hit her right in the face! She did a little creative cursing and then told us she'd figure it out and get the sofa home. I imagine she spent quite a bit of time stratching the strap down to her bumper and then having it pop back again and hit repeatedly: FWOING OWWW! FWOING OWWW! FWOING OWWW! FWOING OWWW!

[AFpheonix]

......
Wow.

Does she realize she can rent a little half ton truck from U-Haul?

[Food Lady]

[Noelegy]

OMG. Yes, she was stoopid, but I'm really wincing imagining what that must have felt like. I was a nominee for Most Stupid Injury a couple of years ago when I was taking my jacket out of the car. Said jacket was a waterproof anorak with drawstring toggles on elastic cords. One of these caught under the car seat, stretched out about 2 feet, and released, hitting me right on the knuckle joint on my thumb, breaking the skin and chipping the bone. It was definitely a "DeeDeeDee" moment.

I can't even conceive getting a bungee in the FACE.

[Andara Bledin]

I used to know someone who got a bungee end to the face. It hooked into her cheek! *wince* And she needed stitches to both the outside and inside of her face.

Never mess with a bungee cord. Those things can be dangerous!

You want stupidity in overloading a car? Nothing is ever going to beat the Jetta loaded with 3000 lbs of goods, as immortalized on Snopes.

^-.-^

[mariamousie1]

I bet those things can put out an eye. Definitely not safe.

[Buglady]

I moved an entire dinette set - table, 6 chairs and the sideboard - in a 1979 Chevette. I loved that car

Bungee cords are scary. I have some for securing stuff to my bike rack but I prefer string - much safer!!

[siead_lietrathua]

i got whacked in the face with one of the farmers ones (instead of a tiny hook, its a 3" wide steel hook for keeping lids on bins.)
bungeecords now = phobia, lol

[BookstoreEscapee]

One of these caught under the car seat, stretched out about 2 feet, and released, hitting me right on the knuckle joint on my thumb, breaking the skin and chipping the bone. It was definitely a "DeeDeeDee" moment.

I got myself good with my work ID once...it's on one of those retractible string clips and I wear it on my pants pocket. I went to swipe the time clock, and the clip slipped off my pocket and zoomed up into my wrist bone. Not quite as good as yours, Noelegy, but I did have a bruise...

[Sofar]

Why don't cars have roof racks anymore? They make carrying stuff much easier. You can put more weight on the top of your car than you can in the back, because the weight is being carried by both halves of your suspension, not just the rear.

[Mongo Skruddgemire]

I used to drive a little 1991 Honda Civic hatchback. Tiny tiny....

I could fit ANYTHING into the back of that little car.

Had one of those once...damn thing wasn't a car, it was a TARDIS.

M

[norrina]

I used to drive a little 1991 Honda Civic hatchback. Tiny tiny....

I could fit ANYTHING into the back of that little car.

I had an '88 Civic hatchback. I would still have it, if it wasn't for the rack-and-pinion steering. That thing was *awesome*. I've hauled a slant top desk and various other furnishings, all at the same time, a washing machine, a summer's worth of belongings, including my gerbil in a monster cage and my computer...

[coldcupofjoe]

I used to know someone who got a bungee end to the face. It hooked into her cheek!

I have an intersting scar on my left hand from a bungee cord. It tore through the skin on the bck of my hand right past the base of my thumb and hooked itself to my thumb-bone.

[Andara Bledin]

I have an intersting scar on my left hand from a bungee cord. It tore through the skin on the bck of my hand right past the base of my thumb and hooked itself to my thumb-bone.

*wince*

Yikes. That must have hurt like a mother. There are just way too many nerve endings in your hands.

My brother once damaged his hand some way, and the doctor had to do some probing to make sure it was clean and everything, and he passed out because of that. It wasn't much of an issue, as the doctor half expected it.

I'm a total wuss. I've never had anything that required hospitalization and I hope it stays that way.

^-.-^

[infavorofnaturalselection]

Why don't cars have roof racks anymore? They make carrying stuff much easier. You can put more weight on the top of your car than you can in the back, because the weight is being carried by both halves of your suspension, not just the rear.

You have to buy and have them installed by a third party or yourself. You could ask if they are an option from the dealership as well. I suspect lawsuits or it was just something a lot of people didn't use that made auto makers remove it as a standard option.