@Rockhead,
Oh my....you remind me of the awful day I went with the welfare folk to tell a small client of mine in foster care that her mum had been murdered.
The foster family had steps up to a porch onto which the front door opened, it was a small porch and there were no railings.
As we were leaving the foster dad stepped out on to the porch to have a private word. I politely stepped aside to make way for him....into thin air. Fell onto concrete.
Took me a while to figure out why the ground came up and hit me like that.
The dominant feeling was horror that I had done such a dumb thing when the focus needed to be on the little girl only.
Blush.
Yes, it hurt.