Man Hit by Falling Book in Library

aerius · Post by **aerius** » 2002-11-28 04:14pm

I was in the Toronto Reference Library today doing some reading when the funniest thing I've seen in a long time happened. I was on the 4th floor which is about 70-80' off the ground when I was distracted by a small group of cute giggly girls using the photocopier. The photocopier is right up against the safety barrier, which is about 4' high, and from there it's a real long drop to the ground floor. I was now watching 4 cute giggly girls about 20 years of age talking loudly, giggling, and using a photocopy machine, fun stuff for a guy like me.

Anyways, they had a bunch of books stacked up beside and on top of the photocopier, and in a classic blonde moment one of them nudged a book over the safety barrier and in a freak act of chance it plonked some poor guy in the head 4 stories below! The girls quickly went from giggly to hysterical, and it got worse when they noticed security looking up at them. They just stood there and freaked, even when they saw that the guard was making his way towards them. They didn't try to sort out their stories, act innocent, or run, they just stood there for over a minute freaking out and going "Oh my god I dropped a book! Oh my god security's coming! Oh my god what do we do!"

By this point I was completely losing it, I'd just seen a guy get plonked in the head by a falling book (he didn't get hurt much), and I was now watching 4 girls freak out and panic, and on top of that security was on its way to have a few words with them. When the guard came up to them the only phrase they could say was "Oh my god! It was an accident I didn't mean to do it I swear!", and they must have repeated that about 10 times before the security guard managed to calm them down enough to get anything else coherent out of them. I heard him taking down names and numbers, after which he escorted them to the main floor so they could apologize to the guy they dropped a book on.

I didn't get any work done after seeing this, it was just too funny and I couldn't stop myself from cracking up. I've also learned that hardhats may be required for certain areas of the library.

Shinova · Post by **Shinova** » 2002-11-28 04:18pm

XaLEv · Post by **XaLEv** » 2002-11-28 04:19pm

Start keeping a camera with you.

Post by **Zaia** » 2002-11-28 04:21pm

LMAO

And I thought one of the safest places in the world was in a library... Idiot girls. Man, I hate 'em. They make me look bad.

TrailerParkJawa · Post by **TrailerParkJawa** » 2002-11-28 04:37pm

I guess that guy is pretty lucky. Some of the books I have weigh several pounds. Crap that would hurt.

aerius · Post by **aerius** » 2002-11-28 04:41pm

Xalev: I really do need to carry a camera more so I can properly document freakish & funny acts of stupidity.

Zaia: It's pretty safe other than the newly discovered "killzone" where people can be hit by heavy falling books. Here's a crappy picture I found so you can kinda see the layout of the library. Each floor has clear unobstructed access for dropping books onto the ground floor.

XaLEv · Post by **XaLEv** » 2002-11-28 04:45pm

He's lucky he didn't get hit by a copy of the Peterson Field Guide to the Stars and Planets.

Post by **Zaia** » 2002-11-28 04:46pm

aerius wrote:Zaia: It's pretty safe other than the newly discovered "killzone" where people can be hit by heavy falling books. Here's a crappy picture I found so you can kinda see the layout of the library. Each floor has clear unobstructed access for dropping books onto the ground floor.

That's hilarious! My old high school had a cafeteria layout similar to that, very open, multiple levels. Ideal for foodfights, much like your library is ideal for reference book-bombs.

Yeah, that shit would hurt. Good thing those girlies couldn't handle really thick books, or else that guy would've been taken away on a stretcher. Ow.

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2002-11-28 04:51pm

LOL

Tosho · Post by **Tosho** » 2002-11-28 04:54pm

How big was the book?

aerius · Post by **aerius** » 2002-11-28 05:00pm

Thankfully for the poor guy it was a rather small book, unfortunately it was a hardcover so it must have hurt a bit. I believe the title of the book was The Joy of the Only Child, I only got a brief look when the security guy walked past with it.

Ted · Post by **Ted** » 2002-11-28 05:35pm

Zaia wrote:LMAO

And I thought one of the safest places in the world was in a library... Idiot girls. Man, I hate 'em. They make me look bad.

But you ARE a bad girl, MY bad girl

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2002-11-28 05:43pm

If that was me, I'd demand some "payback."

Sonnenburg · Post by **Sonnenburg** » 2002-11-28 05:52pm

The problem with this story is there's a little too much plot for a porn movie, but otherwise it's the perfect opener.

Next of Kin · Post by **Next of Kin** » 2002-11-28 05:55pm

Tosho wrote: How big was the book?

Thank goodness it wasn't war and peace!

Aerius, that was a funny story.

XaLEv · Post by **XaLEv** » 2002-11-28 06:11pm

Sonnenburg wrote:The problem with this story is there's a little too much plot for a porn movie, but otherwise it's the perfect opener.

Haven't met Kelly, have you?

Sonnenburg · Post by **Sonnenburg** » 2002-11-28 06:33pm

I do so many porn movies it's hard to remember everyone's name... but I think I do remember a Kelly. Bleach blond with little dimples on her butt?

Ted · Post by **Ted** » 2002-11-28 07:03pm

Sonnenburg wrote:I do so many porn movies it's hard to remember everyone's name... but I think I do remember a Kelly. Bleach blond with little dimples on her butt?

Yeah thats her.

Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi · Post by **Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi** » 2002-11-28 09:06pm

The library owners should be lucky. If this was America, the guy would have sued the place out of existance.

Anyway, it's a funny story.

Evil Sadistic Bastard · Post by **Evil Sadistic Bastard** » 2002-11-28 09:07pm

Heh. true.

and aerius, funny story.