Last summer, my wife and I went on vacation to Ohio and Pennsylvania to visit relatives. Since I had finished my beginner lessons and had purchased my new clubs, I was anxious to play with relatives in both states. We would play at the Metro Parks in Cleveland, Ohio and at the Latrobe C.C. in Pennsylvania. We made a big deal out of it. I did some research and found out that my airline (Southwest) was one of the few airlines that totally insures the clubs in a soft case. I made reservations for a rental car at Alamo car rental in Lakewood, Ohio where I would be staying. Alamo assured me they could pick me up at my residence (otherwise I would have rented the car at the airport the day earlier). I was ready.

We arrived late Friday night and on Saturday morning I called for my rental car pickup. They said they run short staffed on Saturdays and never do Saturday pick-ups but assured me it was only a couple of short blocks away and gave me the address.

I started walking. When I got to the intersection as per my directions from the rental car place, it wasn’t there! I compared the building addresses to the one given me and determined it was about a dozen more blocks away. It was a hot summer day, my cousins would be coming by in a few hours to go to the course and the rental place would close mid-day on this Saturday. Now I had to hurry, I walked as fast as I could and I jogged periodically to get there ASAP. I was worried about the time and looking out ahead, I was now 100 feet from the place when WHAP! I fell to the ground. I couldn’t believe it. My wrists were killing me, my shoulder and back hurt and I was bleeding from my skinned knees and palms of my hands. As I stood up, I determined that I had tripped on an uneven sidewalk (the asphalt driveway had sunken down so the sidewalk slab was higher). I was in front of a business and I wanted to yell at somebody for the unsafe condition but it was closed on Saturday so I wrote down the address and name to come back on Monday and complain. The name of the place was something like Senior Center on Aging (don’t quote me, I’ll look up the exact name later). Anyhow I thought  - of all places to have a walk area problem! I then walked the last 100 feet to the rental car place and when I reached for the door handle, I couldn’t open it, neither hand would work. I had to use both hands to open it just enough to get my foot in the door and open it with my leg.

I was out of breath and had to sit down for a few minutes. The girl behind the counter appeared to be anxious to get me processed (it was close to closing time). I told her I was upset they didn’t pick me up as promised and then they gave me wrong directions. I repeated the directions to her and she replied that we’re not that far from there, why was it a problem?  Yes it WAS a problem when you are walking from the opposite direction I replied, look at me, I’m bleeding, I’m exhausted, and I’m pissed off on the first day of my vacation, No sympathy, no compassion, to every degree, she ignored me except for signing the rental agreement. Then she hassled me about my wife driving despite me having her driver’s license, she apparently needed to sign something. The place would close in 10 minutes and now I had to rush back in the car and get my wife and bring her back. I got in the car and had to use both hands to turn the key, I used my forearm to shift to drive and drove the car to my residence steering with my arms since my wrists and hands were now really feeling the pain and were useless. My wife drove us back there, she also complained to the rental agent’s deaf ears.

We left Alamo and went directly to the hospital emergency room. I called my cousin and told him they would have to play without me. Three hours later I arrived back at my residence with a splint on each wrist and my right arm in a sling. No broken bones but I either hyper extended or tore some tendons or ligaments. My golf trip was ruined.

Later that week, my wife and I went to McKeesport, Pennsylvania to visit her relatives (she’s doing all the driving). My wife’s uncle Vince is a super golfer and really competitive so although golfing at Latrobe was now out of the picture, I thought maybe a small nine hole par 3 might be doable. This guy has been teasing me about how easy golf is for months so I had to try.

We would go to the town fair in the afternoon, eat, then go out to a Par 3 in Seven Springs in the late afternoon when it cools down. We arrived at the fair, parked the car and my wife locks the keys in it. Did I forget to mention her nickname is Calamity Jane and all this time she has been in a walking leg cast for 5 months. We really looked like a pair.  So, I got a coat hanger and with both hands in splints, open the car in about 15 minutes. Ok, we enjoyed the fair and went to the Par 3.

Upon arriving, I slipped my arm out of the sling and then played with in both splints. We finished the last hole in total darkness. My wife shot a 49, I shot a 44 and Vince shot a 32. I never expected to compete with him, I just wanted to see him play or play with him.  I still hurt but I had fun.

I later found out that uneven sidewalks in Lakewood up to 2” are commonplace and there is no obligation to repair them. A hospital emergency room staffer said they have people coming in all the time from sidewalk falls and the police are required to keep reports on all of them but they do nothing to make anyone fix them. I had to wear the splints for almost two months and even today easily stress out my wrists (and have to put a splint back on periodically).