I was hit by a tram
 

and survived.

Walking down the sidewalk on the Bahnhofstrasse in Zürich, I saw a tram coming from Usteristrasse. I stopped to allow it to pass me as it turned onto the Bahnstrasse. As it was turning, a back car swung out farther than I had anticipated and pushed me hard on the ground. Wearing a short sleeve shirt, I landed on my elbows but got up immediately. People around me came up and asked if I was alright. I felt foolish, embarrassed and thought I was fine.

I continued my walk past the Apple Store and stopped in front of Manor. I was feeling very odd and my elbows were bleeding. I thought, what better place to rest than at a cosmetic counter in Manor. I went in, sat down and started chatting with the staff.

"Hello, may I help you?"
"Not really. I just need to sit down for a moment. I don't feel very good."
"Are you OK?"
"I think so. I just got hit by a tram but there's nothing broken. I am bleeding from my elbow. Would you happen to have a band aid?"
They gave me some cotton.
"Are you sure you're OK? You look pale."

And the next thing I knew, I was on the floor, surrounded by a crowd of people, a beautiful cosmetic saleswoman cradling my head in her arms and a sprite young man holding my legs up. Another woman had a blood pressure machine.

They realised I had "come to" again although my eyes had never closed. We all agreed it was probably only the shock of the accident as I had no other symptoms. I regained some strength as they quickly got a wheelchair and wheeled me to the next door medical clinic. There I got a complete check-up, an IV drip and wonderful care as I regained my strength.

Later, as I was taking the train home, I felt grateful to be alive and, besides scratched up elbows, happy for not receiving any serious injuries. I was also feeling foolish for not stepping just a bit more back as the tram swung by. Suddenly, a conductor was in front of me asking for my ticket. I gladly gave it to him. He fined me SFr. 75 francs. I was aghast and asked him why. "Because you're sitting in first class with a second class ticket." I had no idea that I had been in the wrong class and explained to him about my day.

He refused to give in.

You win some and you lose some.

Welcome to Switzerland. :-)

OMG that's awful. I have never walked right by an Apple Store.

Accidents can happen anywhere, and they do, most often when you least expect them, or you're too tired to think clearly and take certain unknowns for granted. Most people don't write about their accidents on the internet. The numbers of tourists who end up in the hospital while driving a moped in Florence is staggering. Yet you rarely see a post about it.

I'm glad to hear your accident was a rather mild one, with no serious injury. I know a few people who have complete horror stories to tell, including one senior-aged woman who was airlifted out of Pompeii, with a fractured ankle and hip. It's no fun to feel vulnerable in a foreign place.

Sometimes the stars are aligned against you and a pesky train conductor stops by to add a little salt to your wound near the end of your miserable day. It's moments like these when one needs to remember all the lucky moments that happen during travel. I find that life usually offers balance. As you said, you win a few and then you lose a few.

It sounds to me like you took your punch like a seasoned veteran. I have a feeling you'll chalk this up to a learning moment and carry on. Thanks for sharing.

colduphere: Ha ha. The Apple Store was one reason why I was Zürich that day. I needed a genius to fix my phone.

NYC: It's the first time something like this happened to me and it just goes to prove there are many, many, many good people in this world. No matter where you are.

Tell us more about the beautiful cosmetic saleswoman!

Glad you're O.K.

<i><font color=#555555>"It's the first time something like this happened to me"</font></i>

All it takes is one time, and your thoughts about life and travel will be forever changed.

<i><font color=#555555>"just goes to prove there are many…good people in this world"</font></i>

There are. Unfortunately, there are awful people, too, and possibly more of them.

Thank God for the angels, and let one always appear when you need one.

All it takes is one time, and your thoughts about life and travel will be forever changed.
_____
Not necessarily, some people own something called perspective and sense of proportion

Fra: I remember dreaming about my children and when I awoke, I thought it was my daughter holding me. I raised my hand and was about to stroke her face when I realized the reality around me.

Stroking the face of the cosmetic sales lady. How often does that happen?

Great story.

kleeblatt - not being used to trams, I am always super-careful when I'm in a city that has them; even so, I've almost been hit by one several times. So I'm very sorry for you, and even sorrier that you met such an unhelpful official.

Get well soon!

<i>He fined me SFr. 75 francs.</i>

A practical question: would the conductor take a credit card?

Michael:
Nope. He took my name and address (which is also registered on my halbtax card) and the train company (SOB) sent me a bill. I wrote them (in German) about my situation aand asked them to forfeit the fine but their response was basically: sorry but pay up.

Annhig: Thank you. This happened earlier in the month but I got a reminder from the clinic that I need to register the accident with my employer so their insurance will cover it, which I had forgotten.

I hope you learned something, you were standing too close to the tram, obviously, which you shouldn't be doing.

Thanks, Christina. The thought never occurred to me.

You're lucky Christina wasn't there, she would have kicked you while you were lying there.

Then there was the time we missed the last gondola down from Trockener Steg by 2 minutes. At 4:47 pm in the afternoon in August. What's the rush to close everything in Switzerland?

And the unhelpful person on the phone told us to start walking the 4300 vertical feet down to Zermatt in the three hours before sunset. And then an empty gondola went right by us with the driver waving sarcastically at us. Have a nice walk down a holes.

I'd have given anything to be comforted by a cosmetic lady at that moment.

There are certain parts of a town, where if you say the wrong thing you can get hit by a trannie.

tee hee

You won the one that mattered.