What seemed like a good idea, for one of our kindergarten students, turned out not to be such a good idea. Even though he was able to stick his head through the opening in the chair (the opening is located right about where your lower back would be in the chair) he was unable to extricate himself.
Along time ago I studied, trained and was board certified as an EMT. I keep a jump kit here at the office just in case we need onsite medical assistance. When they came to get me yesterday saying they needed some medical assistance the medical mode switch engaged until I walked in and saw the situation. It was hard not to laugh, but I was sure smiling. From the look of the situation we needed someone in labor and delivery. There was no way those shoulders were going to make it through that chair opening.
The novelty of having your head stuck in a chair must have worn off because the child asked the principal if he could go home. The principal sympathetically said to the kid "you can’t go home with a chair stuck on your head."
We made a few attempts to coax the child back out of the chair but it was not to be. He was agitated and couldn’t remember how he went in – which of course is probably the best way back out. As I continued to evaluate the situation, from the corner of my mind, came a childhood memory.
Along time ago when we lived in Central America we were driving by the soccer stadium. A kid had climbed the walls and was trying to sneak into the game by crawling through the bars at the top of the fence. Something happened and he got stuck and was dangling from the wall by his head. Needless to say it was a perilous situation and my dad took action. He found a long 2 x4 nearby that he used as a pry bar but still needed a key ingredient. Retrieving the can of WD40 from the jeep he sprayed the kid’s head until it was well oiled. With the right amount of leverage the kid slid right out and was on his way to freedom.
Funny how memories like that pop into your mind at just the right time.
I figured, this being California and all, we’d have some kind of lawsuit on our hands if I used WD40 so went to the kitchen looking for some cooking oil. Here’s where I had to make a difficult choice. Vegetable oil or Peanut oil? Peanut oil is said to be better for you, less cholesterol and all that but what if the kid had a peanut allergy? I soaked a kitchen towel with some 100% pure vegetable oil and applied it to the sides of the child’s head. We held his legs and told him to pull his head back out and faster the getting Pooh Bear out of Rabbit’s house he was out.
I asked him if he learned anything. He said he learned not to stick his head in the chair.
Just another day of shaping and molding young minds.
Randy Wray
May 23rd, 2007 at 10:14 am
You did well… I pictured the whole thing in my “not stuck” head. Very, very funny. But I still feel for the little guy.
And that there principal of yours is downright wise.
May 23rd, 2007 at 11:12 am
That child will probaby grow up to be the “Chair”-men of a Board one day, maybe the Board of the Company that owns WD40?
BTW – Was there a man in a suit taking pictures of this extraction?
May 23rd, 2007 at 5:39 pm
I can see that big smile wrapped all the way around your head right now!
Made me laugh out loud! This probably is not germaine to the situation, but I was always told that a cat will not get his head stuck in anything because he won’t go into it if it’s narrower than where his whiskers stick out to; also, if he got up the tree, he can get down. But if you can’t remember how you got your head stuck in the chair, you sure can’t back out the same way! Glad you were there………Randy to the rescue. Did the little boy get to go home once the chair was off his head? 
May 23rd, 2007 at 6:03 pm
I’ve heard it said that you learn everything you need to know for life in kindergarten, so I would guess this boy’s education is just about complete. Randy, no power tools? Electric saws? You should have cut the bar on the chair. Much more dramatic.
May 23rd, 2007 at 8:42 pm
That’s funny, but it would be funnier had he been sent home w/ the chair stuck on his head!
May 24th, 2007 at 5:30 am
That’s about the funniest thing I have heard in a long time. I can’t believe Cecil went there with the “Chairman” comment.
May 25th, 2007 at 7:05 am
And once again (cf. Greg’s reptile blog from today), I say where are the pictures? This was funny, but would have been much better with a picture. Besides, you could have saved it for the boy’s senior slide show in a few years (if he survives that long – who knows what he’ll try and stick his head in next?)