I should have learned the first time that it's not a good idea to sit on these plastic chairs.

The first one cracked on top of the back rest after I sat on it for a while.

After the fracture, I was forbidden to sit on the cracked chair, but not on others of its kind. So I sat on a different one just like it.

The second chair was not as lucky.

It gave no forewarning of its imminent collapse. It just shattered into pieces as I was sitting on it.

Three distinct sections resulted from the fracture:

• Top half of the chair, where one would normally rest their back.
• Bottom half of the chair, where one would normally rest their buttocks.
• Back legs of the chair, which came off without a fuss.

Only the highest-quality plastic was used in the chair's construction, but that did not stop me from breaking it.

Thankfully this wrought-iron railing prevented me from falling down four stories from the terrace.

My head absorbed all the impact from the fall, so everything turned out OK.