The Sidewalk Jumped Up and Bit Me

Doi SMOC!  She loved Gumby and Pokey!

Shortly after beginning my high School career at Fenwick High School I remember hearing that one of my 8^th Grade teachers, SMOC (Sister Mary O’Connor) had broken her arm falling on the sidewalk outside of school.  I remember hearing from her, on a visit back to Visitation, that she had not actually fallen – rather the sidewalk jumped up and bit her.  I of course appreciated her endearing humor until I learned recently that sidewalks do have a mind of their own – particularly in still developing countries like Thailand.

It's always amazing what Google Images can pull up

Since moving to the mooban community of Sammakorn – about 11km from school I have been humored by the nearly instant flooding that occurs in the streets during and after a typical heavy rain. Conversely, I have been impressed although sometimes fooled by the sidewalks immediately off the main road.  The sidewalks are often built of generous sized concrete panels which are placed over a large unseen gutter so as to quickly move water away from the main road and into some nearby streams.  These panels are often times uneven (like any city sidewalk) and have caught the tip of my flip flop and sent me careening forward (yet still standing) in what can only be assumed as a strange white-guy dance.  Just a week ago the beauty of the sidewalk panels covering the gutters and the ridiculousness of the flooding streets combined in a calamitous affair reminding me that despite all of the 1^st world amenities present here some aspects of Thailand’s developing nation status still exist in our neighborhood.

After planning to meet friends for dinner at a nearby restaurant it began pouring heavily for nearly an hour.  After our friends said they were still good for meeting up – Megan and I put on our ponchos and scooter to dinner.  As we pulled up to the restaurant I parked in one of the few spots that did not have over an inch of standing water.  As I had just showered I didn’t really want to walk through the large puddles and as such found a spot a little further down the road where I could gently leap to the non-flooded sidewalk and then walk back to dinner.  I made my jump successfully and came walking back the sidewalk to find an electricity or telephone pole in the middle of sidewalk and up against the curb.  With the goal of not stepping in the puddle I walked past the pole on the storefront side and even stepped underneath an awning of a closed produce stand to get around the pole.

This is the sewer during the light of day and with out being truly
flooded with water - and yes that blue thing is a full barrel
for added perspective.

  I then stepped back to the sidewalk on the other side of the post and immediately found my left leg had descended into a pit and right below my knee I rammed my leg into the next concrete panel of the actual sidewalk.  Like the sidewalk at Visitation Elementary School which jumped up and bit SMOC I found a sidewalk that had a mind of its own – choosing to be completely ABSENT.   Although an immediate contusion formed that made it look like I had a second knee cap on the same leg I can say that dinner was delicious as I was granted the options to pick as many appetizers/dishes I wanted and our good friends used the parts of the sidewalk that were “present” to run and get me some iodine to stave off infection.  To date I’m still on the mend and yet quoting my dear friend Katie – “I don’t have any diseases that I know of” from spending some unnecessary time in the sewer.  Just remember if you’re coming to visit Thailand – people are wonderfully kind, food is delicious, & sidewalks may jump up and bite you :)