Fine...
I was 7 or 8 years old, my parents had gone away for the weekend and my grandmother was baby-sitting. I got the brilliant idea to slide down the laundry chute from the top floor(3 stories). The top part of the chute was located in the lower part of a cupboard under a shelf. I'd always been fascinated with the idea of somehow being the first to conquer The Chute. So, I somehow contorted myself into the opening of the chute and slowly began to shimmy my way down. I think I was barefoot and had a short sleeved shirt on, so I had decent traction for the descent. I got down to the second floor opening and suddenly it dawned on me that the bottom of the chute came out in the basement ceiling. I decided to make a prudent exit on the 2nd floor. I got one leg out the chute door, but then got wedged in with my other leg past the opening and my upper torso above the door. I think I was in there for what seemed like 3-4 days(in reality it was probably 20-25 minutes
) trying to shimmy my way back up so I could get my other leg out and escape The Chute. After finally figuring out that I was screwed I broke down and sort of whimpered for my grandmother to come help me. I knew I was going to catch hell, so I waited & waited until I was absolutely sure I wasn't getting out without help. Anyway, Grandma pushed me a little further down the chute and then pretty much yanked me out - kind of like a breach birth.
Funny thing is that even though I lived with the notoriety of getting owned by The Chute, my youngest brother tried it when he was about 5. He didn't even make it to the 2nd floor before figuring out that he was screwed. I was in the family room watching tv while my dad read the paper. I heard this little whimpering voice calling for me, so I started looking around for my brother. I had heard some odd rustling around upstairs earlier, but hadn't put 2 & 2 together yet. I looked in the chute from the 2nd floor down to the basement, but nothing. Then I hear something above me and there's my little brother's feet. I start to run upstairs to see if I can pull him out, but as I'm running up the stairs I hear this whooshing noise and then a smack. He'd slipped from where he was and slid past the 2nd floor and landed on his butt in the laundry room in the basement. He lets out a yelp and starts to cry. He wasn't hurt at all, but cried more from the shock of landing on his butt and scaring himself. My dad hears the commotion, thinks I'm teasing my brother and jumps up to see what's going on. At the same time, I'm running back down the stairs from the 2nd floor then around to the stairs to the basement. My dad thinks I'm up to something and really starts yelling at me. I don't respond as I run downstairs to the basement to check on my brother. When I get down there he's figured out that he's ok and is just kind of whimpering & sniffling a bit. My dad goes upstairs to see what kind of trouble I've caused this time(take about guilty until proven innocent
) only to find no one up there. Long story short - he comes down to the basement thinking I've been torturing... err, harassing my youngest brother again, finds out what really happened and then chuckles a little bit before admonishing him. The infamous mantle of Owned by The Chute changed hands that day.
