Staple-gun mishap

First and foremost, I want you all to know that I can and have successful done wood-burning and can use a jigsaw. I took wood-working as a 4-H project. I'm really not that clumsy and my hair is not blonde. That is my disclaimer. With that in mind - we all have our moments of...well, stupidity.

I love working in theatre. I love performing, but I'm not a singer so when our local theatre does a musical, I'm backstage.

This particular year the show was Carousel and they were building a carousel to be used on stage. Time was running short and everyone was pitching in. I had been helping with makeup and props, but time was at a premium.

"What do ya need me to do?"

"Well, we need to get these ribbons attached to the sides of the carousel."

The carousel had a center pole with ribbons attached to it. The ribbons were suppose to be stretched to the outer edge and then stapled.

"Sure, no problem."

I grabbed a ladder and a staple gun and climbed up. I pulled a ribbon to the edge, lined it up and "thwap". The staple bounced off the wood and hit me in the chest.

"Must have hit a nail."

I tried again. "Thwap". The staple hit me in the chest again. I was annoyed. I lined the gun up and clicked off three staples. "thwap, thwap, thwap" Owwww. I pulled three from the front of my shirt.

Grrrrrr. I lined it up again and fired. "Thwap". The staple stuck in my skin just below my collarbone. I was getting mad. Why weren't these stupid staples going in.

I glanced around and saw the head of the tech crew. I really didn't want to admit that I was having problems with the staple gun of all things so I tried again. "Thwap" Another staple impaled itself in my skin.

As I was picking the offending staple out, one of the guys who was watching me said, "Have you ever used a staple gun before?"

"Of course, but this wood is really hard, the staples won't go in."

The guy climbed up the ladder and looked at the staple gun and popped in two staples and then handed it back to me.

"It works just fine if you point it the right direction."

After that, staple guns were added to the list of tools I wasn't allowed to use, without close supervision.