Rampers have had their limbs mangled by hydraulic machinery, others have been injured in tug accidents. The first week on the job, in fact, I was knocked unconscious by a 747 jet blast. The powerful winds flipped the hood of my tug, and it slammed into my head. I woke up a few minutes afterward and was promptly sent home. The ramp is a dangerous place, indeed.
Injuries can happen in a hundred different places.
And with a guy like Vic breathing down my neck, the chances of getting hurt increased exponentially. Moments after Vic threatened me, I crawled up the just-positioned conveyor belt, hopped into the aft cargo compartment of a Boeing 727 and began the task of stacking bags as they crept up the conveyor. At first the bags came slowly, allowing me to snatch and toss in a manageable rhythm. But a couple of minutes later, the conveyor belt picked up speed. The bags came rushing toward me at a rate I could not handle.