The Face, or the Computer?

From TechCrunch:

Viewers of the Charlie Rose show tonight were stunned to see the normally composed Rose looking like he’d just been in a bar fight. He has a very bad black eye and a bandage over part of his forehead. I contacted the show’s producers to hear what happened. Earlier today, they said, Rose tripped in a pothole while walking on 59th Street in Manhattan. He was carrying a newly purchased MacBook Air and made a quick (but ultimately flawed) decision while falling: sacrifice the face, protect the computer. “In doing so, he pretty much hit the pavement face first, unfortunately,” they said.

Luckily the MacBook Air survived the fall. “The Macbook Air is fine, he showed us the blood stains on it this morning.”

As Wired's news blog noted, you could sacrifice the computer: it might not break, and it'll have a cool battle scar. Or, you can sacrifice your face: it might not break, and it'll have a cool battle scar.

As for myself, I was once confronted with a similar dilemma, and I chose the third road - sacrifice both. It's definitely cooler. One time I was rushing to catch a parking lot shuttle at the Manchester airport, slipped on some ice, and went sprawling. It was the start of spring break in New Hampshire, after all, which means plenty of ice. I was on my way to sunny southern California.

I ended up checking in and heading through security with my pants torn rather bad at the knee, and feeling blood dripping down my shin. After I passed security, I cobbled together a bandage of kleenex and scotch tape (wrapped around the outside of the pants, which were a lost cause anyway). These materials were what I could find from a newsstand.

And yet, despite my troubles, my computer still got bent out of shape, literally. Remember that it had a metal frame and case, and one corner of it was bent up towards the screen nearly a centimeter. I couldn't get a disc in or out until I'd bent back flat over my knee. (and yet, despite that abuse, it continued working just fine to this day, only recently retired).

So, Charlie, count yourself lucky.