While on your way to class on a slushy winter day, you try your hardest to avoid sinkhole-sized puddles and the spray from passing cars. Getting to class on days like these becomes a major production involving the strategic layering of clothes and effective time management. But one thing will always brighten up all that gray slush: watching other people fall.

For whatever reason, falling has always been funny. Just watch any episode of ‘America’s Funniest Home Videos.’ We should probably feel bad laughing when a girl takes a digger on the sidewalk after she figured wearing heels during a blizzard was a good idea. The only exception to the rule is old people, because they stand the greatest risk of actually getting hurt. But bearing witness to a gravity-, ice- or alcohol-induced trip and fall is like seeing lightning strike twice: unpredictable and always worthy of a view. Whether it takes a few Jell-O-legged steps or a split second for the victim to greet the pavement, watching others take a fall never fails to bring a smile.

If you find yourself facedown on the blacktop anytime soon, you must first admit that your unfortunate condition is no one’s fault but your own. The edge of the stairs didn’t move, so looking back at it post-crash won’t help your cause. Get up, brush yourself off and move on. Your ankle might be sprained, but no one feels sympathy for the bruised-up person if the injury was a cause of a simple human movement (even with that huge Ace bandage). Don’t construct some sort of somersault maneuver and then act like it never happened: It isn’t convincing anybody.

Falls happen to the best of us, but like tornados, they are always entertaining from a safe distance. Go ahead and laugh, because you know the victim would chuckle at you if he or she had the chance.

— Compiled by Aaron Gould, asst. feature editor, akgould@syr.edu