A Game

There is a game I play in my head when I work certain places. Now I work in production, rigging specifically. This puts me on I-beams 100 feet in the air, or on loading rails in theaters also 100 feet in the air.

The game I play, hypothetically, is "How Would I Get Down?" The premise goes something like this... I can't use the stairs, ladders, or elevator to get down from this grid 107 feet in the air. If you look at the above picture, you will see there are a lot of options. And the answer goes something like...

"Leap from the rail to the ropes that are 6 feet out. Catch the rope, swing over to the I-beam that is 4 feet out and 10 feet below. Walk on the I-beam to a point where I can leap out, catch the thick electrical cable; slide down that to another rail. Walk along the rail to the wall. Climb down the large electrical conduit to the floor."

This is a hypothetical mental excercise. I would never do such a thing. Without an harness with the hang point in the back, a rope, and someone on belay. If I know the guys I'm working with on the fly rail, or the beams, I might pose this question. It is interesting to see how their minds work. If I don't know the guys I don't ask the question. I don't want them to think I'm nuts.

I'd ask you the next time you are somewhere unsual and high, look around and ask yourself that question, "How Would I Get Down?" But really, how many people go the strange places I do?