Jumper

You havent seen my place but it's a basement with a modest outdoor area--there is a post circa May '07 with a photo of the outdoor area--the outside is guarded by a black grate door which a small child could fit his/her hand through. This door locks automatically when you close it. The outdoor area is about 7-8 below street level and approximately 3ftx14ft.

I locked myself out of the black door but without my keys obviously hadn't locked the main apt. door which requires a manual mechanism of inserting the key in the lock to secure it.

I went to FDNY which is about half a block away but couldn't find the door to ask the fireman to loan me a ladder or better yet a fireman--figured it was a bit much to just start screaming "FIRE!".

Then I went to NYPD which is caddy corner to FDNY but there was a long line and it appears the crossing guards had just come off duty. So after much contemplation and disregarding a few dozen passing males as possible jumpers...I jumped!

I was going to offer one of the stronger looking guys $10 to just pop down and open the door for me but it seemed like a bad idea to let my neighbors know I was so rob-able.

I'm wearing a short skirt which was part of the reason I even hesitated making the jump-not too short but above the knee. By the way flip-flops, as you might suspect, are not great for landing

I hit my head on the wall. I was worried I was gonna conk out--thankfully I have enough hair to not show any head bruising--I'm fine. I also landed on my shoulder which I had not considered as a possibility. I feel like that is going to leave a bruise.

I was mostly worried about my knees pre-jump but that was not an issue at all. I didn't even think I might hit my head or my shoulder in my effort to rescue myself.

I mean it's really not that high once you climb over the hip-high black fence at street level. When I sat on the ledge and dangled my feet I wanted to lower myself using my arms so I'd only drop about 3 feet instead of 7 feet below me. That plan was thwarted by my absolute lack of upper body strength. Damn boobs!

I must have looked like I was casing the joint since I loitered for a good 30 minutes trying to decide if I should even do it. The thought of paying a locksmith a minimum of $150 and the failed attempts at alternative rescues finalized the jump.

See, I don't need a man to rescue me. Don't get me wrong, it would have been VERY nice to have one on hand for just such an instance but I just rescued myself--in a short skirt, no less.