Lifting with Friends

Last weekend, my family was called over to a friend's house to assist them with their child's science experiment. "We need more people to lift!" was the cry for help.

So, we went over to an unusual scene (though, not much surprises me from my friend, Anne...she's a big idea person and there is no stopping her to make an idea happen -- I love that about her). So, we pull in to their driveway on our bicycles and see Anne's daughter and another little girl sitting on the ground filling gallon-size Ziploc bags with sand and then weighing them on a large house scale that they had dragged outside.

In the garage, on the floor, was a partially assembled scarecrow-like man body, but instead of being filled with straw, he was filled with weights of every kind.


Anne and her husband were setting up their kitchen table in the yard when we arrived and then they lifted the "body" in pieces with an old sheet and placed him on a white hospital-grade sheet on top of the table.  The table was to represent a hospital bed. 

The experiment: How many pounds does it take before a hospital-grade sheet rips?

Anne works at the hospital and knows that sheets rip as nurses try to lift patients from gurney to bed. So, she encouraged her daughter to do an experiment to find out how many pounds would cause a sheet to rip. Then, they could tell nurses the weight-limit per sheet.

There were four adults and four children around the "body", which started off weighing 180 pounds. We counted to three and lifted. No problem. We added more weight, then lifted. Added more weight, then lifted. Added more weight, then lifted. You get the idea. Every time, Anne would say, "It's gonna rip for sure this time!" We finally ran out weights to add and maxed out our lifting ability. At over 500 pounds, the sheet still did not break!


This was one of those fun memories that I want to hold one to. We laughed until we cried. We were doing something that looked totally ridiculus with good friends. Ah, what could be better?

So, do you have one of those memorable "friend" moments you'd like to share?

Fun Fact: Hospital sheets only last about 200 washings due to the harsh cleaning agents and extreme wash temperatures.