I've drawn blood.  I've literally bloodied up a co-worker with a door.  Not intentionally, but because I'm a bull in a china shop (my own mother's words). When will it end?

Rodney demonstrates the dangers of walking past Studio A. Photo by me.
Rodney demonstrates the dangers of walking past Studio A. Photo by me.
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In our building, all the studio doors on the inner circle of the building open outward, which means anyone walking in the hallway is a collision waiting to happen.  The outer ring of the building luckily has doors that open to the inside, but 98% of my time is spent in the inner circle.  In the 10 1/2 years I've worked in this building, the layout of the studios has put me in situations that see people getting hurt.  I don't want to hurt.  I want to love all that walk past my studios.

Even worse than just having doors that open outward is having doors that are each very different in the force required to open the door.  In Studio A you have to turn the handle and push.  There is no resistance to opening this door after you've turned the door knob, which means you just simply turn the knob and gently push.  It also means you must push the door closed when coming or going.

While opening in the same direction as Studio A, Studio B is altogether different.  Unlike Studio A, you don't have to turn the handle to open the door of Studio B.  You simply push to get the door open, but it's got to be a firm, solid push to open it.  Unlike Studio A, Studio B offers quite a bit of resistance when opening, and it will slam back on you if you're not paying attention.

It's because of this difference and because of the time spent rotating between studios that I've confused the two in the past.  Don't give enough of a push in Studio B and you'll find the door slamming back in your face before you can shimmy through the door.  Give too much of a push to Studio A's door and you'll loudly slam it directly into the door for the room next door if it doesn't connect with a co-worker innocently walking past.

Laura demonstrates the dangers of walking past Studio B. Photo by me.
Laura demonstrates the dangers of walking past Studio B. Photo by me.
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While leaving Studio B one day in early 2013 enroute to Studio A with my laptop, coffee cup and laptop case all in tow, I gave a good push to the door to give myself plenty of time to exit with my hands filled before the door shut behind me.  Only this time the door came to a sudden stop prior to fully opening.  The reason for this sudden stoppage is the man that instantly became a human backstop.

James Harrison bore the brunt of that opening door right to the face.  The impact of the door hitting his glasses brought about enough blood to make my first instinct turning and running.  I figured that in Texas you can't bloody another man without expecting a swift and brutal reaction.  Had this been Florida, he may have stood his ground and shot me.  He may wish he had when given the opportunity.

I've had a number of close calls, most of which are witnessed or heard by Rodney.  He's taken to calling it getting "Harrisoned". Rodney himself has been on the receiving end of several close calls.  There have been several close calls and several times where contact was actually made with various co-workers.  Never before and not since have I brought blood upon opening a door, but every day is a crap shoot.

The only solution to this problem and the potential injuries would be to install sliding doors.  Since that's not going to happen, if you happen to visit the radio stations, hug the outside walls as you walk around the building.  It's for your own safety.

 

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