Self-Reflection: From a Middle School Gating to a Catastrophic Incident Awareness in Real Life
- Howie Ng P.Eng
- Apr 4, 2017
- 2 min read
"Howie! ONE GATING!" That was what I heard after I blocked my classmate's b'ball while he aimed for his shot. I was in grade 8 during a P.E. final exam. We were being scored on how many points we got in total within a given time. We went by the order of our class number, and my class had about 30 people. I was no. 23 and had my turn already, so I left the scene. About half an hour later, I thought everyone was done. So I went back to the court. I saw Caleb, our beloved class monitor was shooting b'ball alone. The genie in my head kicked in and told me that he need someone to play with. I ran towards him, jumped with my arms up and blocked his shot. I gave him my "in-yo-face" face, just like how NBA players did. He was stunned, with his mouth opened wide. Then came the roar from my P.E. teacher who gave me a gating -- to stay after school for school chores.
It may sound like a minor event that happened regularly at a typical middle school. Yet, I found a few elements of this incident coincidentally relate to a potential real life catastrophe incident.
I was attending an electrical safety training and watched an arc flash video, where two men were badly burned. Guy A was geared with arc flash protection clothing to work on an electrical work, while Guy B had no protection on. Guy B walked in randomly to ask Guy A a "quick" question, and BAM! An electric arch flash happened as soon as Guy B walked in. Guy A had a second degree burn, while Guy B had a third degree burn. Guy B was not aware of what situation he put himself into, assuming it would be quick and not knowing that he exposed himself in a dangerous working zone. Compare to my case, I was Guy B, who had no idea that the exam was still on, jumped into the court and blocked the shot. Guy B got a third degree burn and I got a gating.
This video made me recall my "painful" experience of getting a gating, but this memory was far less damaging than any physical harm like Guy B had. Yet, this reflection reinforced the idea of being aware of the working scenario that I would walk into, and what kind of action I should take accordingly.
I used to be annoyed by the gating that I got, but it seemed to be useful now to keep me remembering this arc flash video when I work around high voltage equipment.
Further thoughts:
Does moderate discipline necessary in modern education?
How does middle school teacher plant a seed in students to guide them from "harm"?
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