Blind Leap

I don't look before I leap. I will from now on, as there was a quick incident that taught me firsthand the derivation of the old saying.

I walked up to the drive-through automatic teller machine because the internal bank was on lockdown, it being Sunday and all. Got my money, turned to my right, and saw my car parked over in the mini-lot, and a wall about chest high. The wall extended a good fifteen feet to my right, fifteen to my left. So, in a fit of insanity, I figured I'd just hop the wall and walk directly to my car.

Take a couple of quick steps, plant my left hand atop the wall, swing my body to the right, make it over with no problem, bend my knees, and land perfectly. At least, that's what would have happened if the ground wasn't four feet below what I expected. You see, it turned out that this bank was built on a hill, a fact I was gleefully unaware of until those two seconds between when I thought I was going to land, and actually did.

Thankfully, all that happened was I landed a little too bolt-upright, and bounced around a bit on my feet, spinning and twirling and trying to play it off as if that was what I intended all the time. The kid in the backseat of the car watching me, I don't think he bought it, but I just gave him a curt nod, hobbled over to my car, and drove away.