And yea, we dont generally fall out of our towers, but considering controllers have the highest rate of alcaholism, suicide, depression, heart attacks, etc ( i could go on) we live a pretty dangerous life.
I'd bet living in UTAH results in much higher rates of all those BAD, BAD things you mentioned. [Been there, done that. Trust me.]
And, I have to mention this ATC bit, and I have heard this only ONCE in my entire life, the night we were coming into BOI in the middle of the night, actually I guess the wee morning. The frequency was quiet at night, and we would get bored, and see how far out we could hit BOI approach. At the time, they were in the tower building, too. It was just a little game we played. The controllers here are great, and one especially GOOD night, we called about 100 nm out and HIT them. I can't recall but it was over 100 miles, and of course we were plenty high. We were all giggling, both of us pilots, and the techs in back (we were mapping forest fires at night).
Well, right in the middle of thinking we were pretty darned witty, and our tiny little brains were puffing right up, the approach guy called us back and said "Hey, King Air so-and-so, could you guys do me a big favor?"
Of course, we say YES. So he smoothly adds, "Could you just watch the frequency for me? I gotta step outside."
Well, gang, I know this is falling into that "you had to be there" category, but I SWEAR, I will never forget that -- we all gaped at each other in the dimly lit cabin, and we all had the exact same mental picture: this guy stepping out of the tower (literally), and we laughed uncontrollably all the way to the airport.
I'm sure it had something to do with it being the end of a 13-hour shift, and being rummy, and milling around in the dark all night, but -- we could NOT stop laughing. And, I mean that deep laughing where you can't even SEE. We all had tears running down our faces.
The guy called us back after we'd gone about 50 miles, and chirped "Heyyy! I'm back!! Anybody call??" which just set off another wave of laughter!!
I never knew exactly who it was, but I can recall that moment just as if it happened yesterday. I'm amazed we managed to get the gear down and find the runway. He was a HOOT.
My hat is off to you guys!