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Taking a Body Blow and Hitting the Floor — A Plug Tray Incident

Imamura here. In my third year working at a vertical farm, a plug tray caught me in the solar plexus and I went down on the factory floor.

Just Another Day at Work

That morning I was in good form — I woke up before the alarm. I had a bit more coffee than usual to get myself ready, and it happened right after I arrived at work.

By my third year, carrying plug trays through the gaps between grow racks had become very familiar. Keeping the tray level with both hands, moving as smoothly as possible through the narrow corridor. In my own estimation, I had gotten quite good at it.

That day too, I was moving at a light jog between the grow racks, the plug tray held against my chest. The corridor was only about 10 centimeters wider than my shoulders. Racks of plants lined both walls, leaves lit up bright under the LEDs. The scent of plants, with a faint undercurrent of nutrient solution. The usual scene.

In my head, I was thinking: “Twenty more trays to go and then lunch.” This is exactly when you’re most at risk.

The Moment of Impact

The corner of the plug tray hit a grow rack.

There was a dull sound, and in the next instant the rebound drove the opposite corner directly into my solar plexus. A precision hit, right on target — the kind of angle you couldn’t reproduce if you tried. A plug tray KO. Not something covered in safety training.

For a moment, I forgot how to breathe. Sounds receded, and the white glow of the LEDs was all that came through clearly. Pain. Can’t breathe. The tray — did I drop it? Thoughts came in short, broken fragments and wouldn’t pull together.

My vision narrowed, and something like stars flickered. Not actual stars, of course — ceiling lights. My head knew that, but in that moment there was no room for a calm explanation.

The few seconds before my knees gave out felt strangely long. My body was already heading for the floor, but somewhere in the back of my mind: I hope I didn’t drop the tray. Whether that makes me a dedicated professional or just someone whose judgment had dulled — I still don’t really know.

Getting Back Up Off the Floor

When I came to, I was lying on the cold concrete floor in my hygiene workwear. Cold sweat on my forehead, legs shaking. The only silver lining was that no one else was around. If a colleague had seen me like that, I’d have been the butt of jokes on the floor for weeks.

Eventually I managed to get up. The walk to the office, one hand trailing along the wall, must have looked about as steady as you’d expect. Someone who thought of himself as a seasoned veteran of vertical farming, beaten by a plug tray and shuffling along the wall. Looking back on it myself, it’s a fairly pitiful image.

When I lay down on the office sofa, a colleague came over with a worried look.

“Are you okay? You look terrible.”

I was a little too embarrassed to explain honestly, so I said: “I just had a heated battle with a plug tray.” More accurate to say it was a one-sided hit to my solar plexus — but still.

The More Familiar the Task

Even now, years later, when I pass through the gaps between grow racks, my solar plexus is a little on alert. It doesn’t actually hurt — but my body seems to remember.

No matter how familiar a task becomes, you can never let your guard down. Carrying a plug tray through a narrow corridor — written out, it sounds like nothing. But get the angle, speed, or distance slightly wrong and you’ll go down, plain and simple.

Everyone: stay sharp precisely when a task feels routine. And if you ever find a colleague lying on the floor at work, check on them first — but keep in the back of your mind that they may have received the plug tray baptism.

Even now, carrying a plug tray through the rack gaps is the one time I catch myself bracing to protect my solar plexus.