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Goofy Dad Stories (13): Skinned Face

Goofy Dad Stories (13): Skinned Face

Goofy Dad Stories (13): Skinned Face.

My senior year at Wheaton College. Basketball season. Freezing temperatures on the morning of a game that night. I was running  late to class. It was really cold, and there was ice on all the sidewalks. I had forgotten to wear my gloves, so as I ran I put my hands in my pockets to warm them up. Sure enough, I hit an icy patch as I ran, and I immediately fell face forward and hit the sidewalk. My fall happened too quickly for me to pull my hands out of my pockets, so my face felt the full weight of my body going down to the icy concrete. It hurt, very much. I was with my roommate, who took one look at me and said, “Whoah! You look terrible!” My face had pieces of skin hanging off my nose, forehead, chin, and both cheeks. There was some blood as well. I looked like raw hamburger. The cold wind hitting my face didn’t make me feel much better.

Since I had to go through the Student Center to get to the Health Center, I decided to see if I could freak anybody out at the Center’s student post office. I was curious as to what reactions I would get once people saw my face. So I calmly walked down the stairs and acted very nonchalant, as if I didn’t have a care in the world. I greeted various student friends with, “Hi! How ya doing? Anything new?” The reactions were hilarious. Some students had to look away. Other students stared at me with bug eyes. Some laughed and thought it was a practical joke with make-up. There were even a couple of shrieks.

So after getting a suitable rise out of a number of students, I decided to make my way to the Health Center. I needed to get patched up a bit. I had a home game that night, and I wondered how I would be perceived by the fans and opposing players. The only reaction I got was from the opposing team’s captain. As I greeted him before the game, he looked at me and said, “What the heck happened to you?” I responded, “Oh, I just wanted to look tougher for you guys.” So we played our game, and that was that. As my wounds healed, my face was covered in scabs, which made me look even grosser than before. But it wasn’t long before the wounds healed, the scabs fell off, and my face was back to normal.

I never ran with my hands in my pockets again. Never.