This is worth it for the title of the article....

[MorganGrayson]

The Three Stooges live!

LONDON (Reuters) - It was every museum-goer's nightmare -- a stumble, a crash and thousands of pounds worth of historic fragments lying on the floor.

The incident happened last week at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, England, which for decades has displayed a group of Qing dynasty Chinese vases on a window sill.

A hapless visitor tripped on his shoelace, tumbled down a flight of stairs and crashed into the vases, smashing them into smithereens.

The man, who has not been named, left the museum shaken but undamaged -- in sharp contrast to the vases.

"It was a most unfortunate and regrettable accident but we are glad that the visitor involved was able to leave the museum unharmed," museum director Duncan Robinson said Monday.

"Whilst the method of displaying objects is always under review, it is important not to over-react and make the Museum's collections less accessible to the visiting public," he added in a statement.

The priceless vases, dating from the late 17th or early 18th century, were donated to the museum in 1948 and have become one of its most recognizable exhibits.

Shocked but determined, museum staff have vowed to glue the pieces back together again.

Geesh...and I felt bad when my cheapo glass vase broke...

[war_ner]

Hahahaha, I'd faint if I was the one involved on that incident..

[Rochard]

Opps!

[MorganGrayson]

I can only imagine the humiliation and guilt the poor man who fell down the stairs must feel. I'm sure that for a moment there, all he could do was pray that the fall killed him...but when he opened his eyes and saw the devastation to the priceless antiquities...it must have been horrifying.

This is one of the many reasons I adore the British:
"It was a most unfortunate and regrettable accident but we are glad that the visitor involved was able to leave the museum unharmed," museum director Duncan Robinson said Monday.

I'm certain that the museum director wanted to slash his own wrists, but class and dignity won the day.

I dislike bashing my own country - or, at least, I *did* - but in the US there would have been a mad dash to the phone to call an attorney and sue the poor guy who fell down the stairs...who would also be contacting his own attorney to sue the museum.

I wish them the best of luck glueing the pieces back together.

[war_ner]

Well, I guess he's still lucky the museum did not ask something for the damage.