IBM Still Asks About Me

I went on my first business trip in the mid ninties. I was sent to IBM's California office with a few coworkers to perform usability testing for a small software startup. I was very excited.

The trip lasted a few days and went well. I got to drive a rental car and expense my dinners out. A good time was had by all. Until the last day.

A few of us were having an informal conference in an office. I had my knee up on a chair. The conference was going well. I had convinced IBM that I knew what I was doing.

The conference dragged on, and I noticed that my leg had fallen asleep. I put it down to restore circulation, and maybe take a few steps.

The moment I tried to put weight on the leg, it failed completely. It was totally numb and useless. I collapsed like I'd been tasered. Given the thud that my knee made, the numb thing was probably a mercy.

I wasn't really alarmed. My leg was only asleep. I tried to get up, but my leg was useless. I was flopping around like a fish.

My coworkers were dying of laughter. IBM thought I was havin a seizure. As I protested that I was fine, I tried to pull myself up using the nearest chair, but the chair was on wheels, so I ended up just dragging it back and forth as my legs flailed.

After a few minutes, enough feeling returned that I was able to stagger up and out into the hall. My coworkers were on the verge of rupturing, they were laughing so hard. I think one guy wet himself.

I was never invited back by IBM. But my friends tell me that they still ask about that guy who fell over...

LM