My shower door tried to assassinate me!

[Penchan]

Time: 9pm Saturday night.

Place: my bathroom.

I had just gotten done taking shower and I opened the glass shower door to reach for my towel. The glass door hit the rubber stopper on the wall as normal, but somehow, some way, this caused the whole glass door to shatter. I could only watch in sick fascination as the glass door shattered downward. Small glass shards flew out cut up various parts of my body.

I thank god that I've been wear pretty sturdy wedges to work everyday for the past few months. The bottoms of my feet are pretty tough so I didn't get too many scratches on them as I walked on the broken glass to get out of the deathtrap. But my hands and tops of my feet were bleeding pretty profusely from the gashes that I got.

Luckily the SO heard the commotion and pulled a Knight in Shining Armor by busting the door open to help me out of the tub and to the sink to rinse away all the blood that was leaking out of me.

He spent the next 30-45 min picking out shards of glass from my body and bandaging me up. Afterward he brushed and dried my hair because I obviously couldn't. My brother and my mother heard what had happened (my family lives in a large duplex house - kids on one side, parents on the other) and cleaned up the bloody shards of glass all over the bathroom. I love my family.

My question is, HOW THE HELL DID THAT HAPPEN???

I have a few theories:

1) Somehow I closed the door caused the door to vibrate to the exact frequency (amplitude?) to make the glass shatter.

2) There was a minor defect that the naked eye couldn't see, and the pressure of just hitting the rubber stopper against the wall set it off.

3) God hates me.

I also can't go in to work tomorrow because my feet are all cut up and being the front desk girl, I shouldn't freak out people with my bandaid covered hands. Instead, I'm going to put on cushy socks and shoes and go with my mom to demand a refund from Home Depot. I also want to demand compensation for the pay I'm missing because I can't really go to work the way that I am. I can walk, just slowly and with lots of wincing. I can type, but shuffling papers will take a while because not all of my fingers are agile enough right to properly shuffle them as I should for our morning appointments. But is it fair for me to demand that? Sure it was a freak accident, but I didn't do anything out of the ordinary to cause this to happen. Using their product was downright dangerous!

Life is poo and my hands and feet hurt. My body is also sore from sleeping on my back because sleeping on my side hurts my hands. I hurt all over.

[Green Cymbeline]

Wow, scary!! I thought things like that had to be made of safety glass, so that if it shatters, it breaks into non-sharp bits (kind of like auto glass). It sounds like you may be owed some sort of compensation from the manufacturer. That product sounds like a serious safety hazard. Take photos of the damage and your wounds!

[Anne Neville]

Originally Posted by nyctea scandiaca

Wow, scary!! I thought things like that had to be made of safety glass, so that if it shatters, it breaks into non-sharp bits (kind of like auto glass). It sounds like you may be owed some sort of compensation from the manufacturer. That product sounds like a serious safety hazard. Take photos of the damage and your wounds!

I would take photos, get documentation of your injuries (see a doctor if you haven't yet), and talk to a lawyer.

How old was the shower door?

[LightWithoutHeattttttttttttttt]

Originally Posted by Anne Neville

I would take photos, get documentation of your injuries (see a doctor if you haven't yet), and talk to a lawyer.

How old was the shower door?

I suggest you sue God. It sounds like he is definately at fault here ... based on option #3 given by the OP.

[Tikki]

As soon as I saw your title, I knew what had happened. I remember seeing a story ten or more years ago on 60 Minutes or some such show about spontaneously shattering shower doors. As with Pochacco, sometimes there was nothing around that could have caused the doors to implode. I'd assumed that they started making more shatterproof ones since then but I guess not.

Speedy healing to you, Penchan. Here's hoping your aunt is doing better too.

[Celyn]

Shower door tried to assassinate you? Perhaps it's a member of the Ba'thist Party? Or it thought you were. Something like that.

That sounds pretty bad, though. I'm sure glass shower doors ought to be made a bit safer than that one.

[Savannah]

Eeek. We have a three-piece bath off our bedroom--shower only. The glass shower door hits the toilet no matter how carefully you open it. In fact, it has to hit the toilet in order to open it enough to step into the shower. I keep thinking that one of these days...

Speedy healing to you.

[Kythereia]

It's probably number 3 2, but I'd second nyctea scandiaca's advice; that doesn't sound kosher.

Also, since you and the glass door have already broken up, so to speak, why not install a shower curtain?

[Penchan]

Aww thanks everyone for the healing vibes. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Originally Posted by Kythereia

Also, since you and the glass door have already broken up, so to speak, why not install a shower curtain?

My family doesn't like shower curtains because they're harder to clean, get in the way, PLUS my mom rents out the remaining rooms in our house to students, so we have to have something that's easy to use, easy to clean. It just so happened that that one door was out to get me.

Originally Posted by Autolycus

Wow that really sucks. I'd say you're entitled to some compensation, but IANAL. Are you feeling any better today?

I sure hope they'll at least pay for the the wages that I'm missing. It's not my fault that I can't really walk right now. And yes, I am feeling much better today, thank you. The small cuts have all closed and are scabbing over quite nicely. The gashes are a bit blue and puffy, but are healing as they should. Good times.

Originally Posted by Mindfield

Yikes! That sounds like one hell of a serious defect! If you do plan on chasing after the manufacturer though, be prepared with documentation, witnesses, anything that will bear out your claim. The company will probably do everything in its power to discredit or minimize that claim, so receipts, pictures, witnesses, doctor's notes, whatever you can get your hands (sorry) on.

A speed recovery (and possibly some painkillers or alcoholic beverages) to you.

My brother took pictures of the bathroom after I made my hasty exit. He also got pictures of my feet before they were bandaged up, but by the time he got to us with a camera, TonyF had already covered up my arms with bandaids. In addition to that, one of our tenants came to see if I was ok, and he saw my bloody towel and all the open wounds. He could attest that I was hurt (and he's not part of my family so he's not as biased).

Originally Posted by Anne Neville

I would take photos, get documentation of your injuries (see a doctor if you haven't yet), and talk to a lawyer.

How old was the shower door?

We have pictures, but I haven't been to the doctor. My health insurance from work doesn't kick in until December 1st, and I just got cut up, so we didn't think it warranted a visit to the hospital. As of now, I'm healing quite nicely so it doesn't feel right to go to the doctor now when other people need to get in to see someone. And I got some deep cuts, nothing life threatening. Is a lawyer really in order for cuts and scrapes? I guess it is if I'm asking for compensation, I suppose...

The shower door was approximately 1-2 months old. We had our own contractor who's doing work on our house install it. He's licensed and everything and he's installed shower doors before. I'm assuming that the manufacturer is going to require a written statement from him detailing how he installed the shower?


My mom and I went to Home Depot and they gave us a full refund for the shower. Any other compensation they said has to come from the manufacturer. I'm going to call the manufacturer now so we'll see what happens.

This sucks major goat balls. I just wanted to take a shower. Not feel like I was coming from a horror movie. Thanks for the good thoughts, all! It really does help during this sucky time.

Cherry to top off this experience? We just got a call from my aunt's roommate that my aunt is in the ER. We're waiting for my brother to get off work in a few hours to go see her. Sigh. It never ends.

[sturmhauke]

Originally Posted by Penchan

I sure hope they'll at least pay for the the wages that I'm missing. It's not my fault that I can't really walk right now.

You may be eligible for temporary disability pay from the state. California SDI

[Penchan]

Originally Posted by sturmhauke

You may be eligible for temporary disability pay from the state. California SDI

Thank you for the cite! It's not necessary because I was able to go back to work today. My hands are covered in bandages and I'm limping, but I'm still able to work. If I can move without lots of pain, I'll be at work.

Originally Posted by Lionne

I think this is a good thread to share this story of another bathroom mishap involving glass...and spiders!

You sir (ma'am?), are evil. Positively unscrupulous. I have arachniphobia, but I have to say, I enjoyed the tale, especially because it wasn't happening to me.

Pochacco, now I'm going to be scared about showering now! I might have to stop bathing all together! Hope your kids stay safe!

Originally Posted by robardin

Hmm. What is your vocal range, and were you singing in this shower? 'Cause if you sue Big Orange, their lawyers are sure to ask.

Seriously though: I hope you heal quickly, and don't develop a fear of showering. Kudos to your Knight as well.

I haven't sang in the shower since I was six, I believe. I wouldn't dare sing loud enough for humans to hear. Lord knows my brother would use that ammo to blackmail me in a future date.

Thank you and Tikki for the healing wishes. I think I'm on the way to a speedy recovery. I'm still afraid of it happening again, but you just have to get back on the horse, or in this case, in the tub and hope for the best. I do, afterall, want to keep the SO because I invested way too much time and energy into our relationship to lose him over hygiene!

I told my Knight about your kind words, robardin, and you made him blush. Good job!

And Tikki, my aunt is doing well. Her blood pressure just got too high and she got dizzy at work and fell down. She's on a stricter diet and exercise regiment. Let's hope she sticks to it.

At least I got hugs and well wishing at work. My co-workers are very supportive and were helping me out throughout the day so I wouldn't over exert myself. I work with some lovely ladies.

[Autolycus]

Wow that really sucks. I'd say you're entitled to some compensation, but IANAL. Are you feeling any better today?

[Mindfield]

Yikes! That sounds like one hell of a serious defect! If you do plan on chasing after the manufacturer though, be prepared with documentation, witnesses, anything that will bear out your claim. The company will probably do everything in its power to discredit or minimize that claim, so receipts, pictures, witnesses, doctor's notes, whatever you can get your hands (sorry) on.

A speed recovery (and possibly some painkillers or alcoholic beverages) to you.

[danceswithcats]

First-disclaimers: IANAL, nor do I resemble either Andy Griffith or Raymond Burr.

Home Despot is mentioned. I'm assuming they either (a) sold you the offending door, (b) had their subcontractor install the offending door, or (c) are a big corporation with lots of money, so yelling at them is okey-dokey.

Shower doors have been made of safety glass for as long as I can remember, but safety glass is not incapable of causing injury-it's just safer than ordinary plate glass, which would have sliced and diced you like a Veg-O-Matic.

All glazing is susceptible to point stress breakage, such that if the glass wan't properly installed within the frame, or assembling hardware improperly contacted the glazing sheet, repeated bumps could conceivably induce a fracture. Good luck.

[John DiFool]

In my old house I had two sliding glass doors surrounding the tub. Oddly enough on either side of the tub are two toilets, so I guess you can chat with the other person on the other side of the tub.

Anyway I woke up one night to hear a very strange sound coming from the tub, which to my half-awake brain sounded like the claws of some animal trying to climb out of the slippery shower. My dog however was not agitated, but rather looked kind of guilty, which I initially ignored in my panicked state of mind. Turns out the dog, who loved to lay on the cool surface of the tub, must have hit the door with his toenails or something getting out, and shattered it (into little pieces-safety glass). I had even gotten out my gun, not knowing what was in there.

[Shelf stable at room temperatu]

"My shower door tried to assassinate me! "
This is exactly why the National Bathtub Association recommends that laws should require tubs be installed instead of showers in all new construction and resales.

[Lionne]

I think this is a good thread to share this story of another bathroom mishap involving glass...and spiders!

[The Hamster King]

The shower door in my kids' bathroom shattered a couple of years ago. There wasn't anyone anywhere near it ... it just did it spontaneously one evening while we all in a different part of the apartment. We talked to a glazier who said that it was possible that the building had shifted, putting the door under stress in its frame until it just snapped.

There's a shower curtain on that tub now.

[robardin]

Hmm. What is your vocal range, and were you singing in this shower? 'Cause if you sue Big Orange, their lawyers are sure to ask.

Seriously though: I hope you heal quickly, and don't develop a fear of showering. Kudos to your Knight as well.