Q: What are bad things that can happen to you while mining?

A: Well, you can get the black lung. That's a big one. That'll kill you.

You can also hit your head, or hurt your back. Mining's pretty grueling work.

There's also the more existenisal concerns, like, "Am I meant to me a miner? Am I following my true path in life? Am I only doing this because my father was a miner, and my grandfather was a miner, and my great-grandfather dug an underground tunnel to hide from authorities for twelve years? Is this really what I want to do?"

Black lung and a broken back might kill, but they'll never be as painful as that morning when you wake up, look in the mirror after twenty-four years of mining, and realize that you hate mining, that you always wanted to dance. That's all you've ever wanted to do, just dance.

Yup, that was the worst day of my life.

Until today.

I forgot to mention cave-ins.

Those are the worst. Far worse than I ever imagined. And being a miner, you think about cave-ins a lot.

Yup, a cave in is the worst thing that can happen to a miner. By far.

On the bright side, I can't feel my legs. Or see them.

For all I know, they could be somewhere under all this rubble, dancing up a storm.

Oh, wait. There they are.

How did they get over there?

They don't look like they'll be dancing anytime soon.