Worst mistake as a child?

Lifting the drooping exhaust of a small generator, while it was running. Some quite impressive blisters over my whole hand.

When I was about 5 my sister bet me that I could not get down the stairs in a pillowcase, in the style of the school sports sack race.

I made it down to the third step from the top and then did a "Some mothers do have them" tumble all the way down and almost knocked myself out on the brass metal frame that surrounded an inset coir mat at the bottom.

I had a similar experience with a spacehopper.

We had those in school. They were lethal if you slid along the corridor.

Owain

My brother dared me to hit him with our spacehopper. So I did and knocked his two front teeth out! Fortunately, they were his baby teeth, so he grew a replacement pair :-)

Unfortunately, a few years later, while we were both cycling home from school, he ducked to go under a low branch and mashed the replacements on the handle bar and took out a nice big V shape. He has had crowns ever since.

Oh, I was three or four at the time, so didn't know better. I syphoned some petrol out of my car last week and managed to get a small amount of the petrol onto my tongue. Took me right back.

Seventy years later, an amitriptyline tablet stuck on my tongue has a very similar taste. Revolting!

PA

About twelve years old. stood on a table unscrewed a light bulb switched on and poked my finger in to see what 240 volts felt like. an electrifying experience.

I was 11 and re-wiring the valves on an R1155 receiver. I picked up the separate power supply while it was on, 300 volts up one arm and down the other. Every day since has been a bonus.

Could have been worse. We had a T1154 and PSU. Quite a bit higher...