First responders are such an emotional wasteland. Rachel Feinstein, comedian.
Let me first begin by saying she's fine. If she wasn't, I wouldn't be writing this.
In the aftermath of wife Pat taking a spill during a dog walk, she was telling the story of it - the dog zigged, she zagged and in the effort not to fall over the dog she ended up in a heap on someone's front lawn - a friend said, "And Jim went, 'WHAAAAA??!!"
No, Jim didn't.
Comedian Rachel Feinstein describes going to the hospital to deliver her first baby, with her husband (a New York City firefighter) driving them:
We had to stop so I could get out and puke. He just rolls down the window, leans across the seat and says, "Are ya good?" Are you kidding me....Are ya good? I'm carrying his child and all I get is, "Are ya good?" That's what you say when you're helping someone with a sofa.
I was distracted at the time by our little Havanese, who paces just before she decides to poop. False alarm, but when I turned Pat was on the lawn of a corner house, looking like this wasn't the initial plan. Jed, our ancient Portuguese Water Dog, stood staring at her with an expression approximately like I must have had.
"What happened?"
See, I can be sensitive and empathetic AF. Rather than laugh, or be dismissive, I asked a question before jumping to a conclusion. She and the dog had disagreed on who was going where, rather than fall on him she'd tried to finesse it and, failing that (more on that later) chose a lawn instead of the sidewalk as a landing spot.
I let her sit for a moment, to collect her thoughts and assess herself. Bruises, maybe. No blood. How about we try to stand? Ah, she was good...
Ultimately, it turned out that she'd wrenched her big toe, which prevented her from staying on her feet but was remedied the next day (not for nothing are chiropractors called "bone poppers"). A bruise here, a scuff there and few ice packs and aspirin later...
Nothing to get excited about. She's an athletic and robust woman for whom a little stumble isn't the end of the world.
And I didn't even have to roll down the window.