We often see drainage ditches and irrigation channels with their gratings without giving it much thought. I had an irreversible experience with one of these gratings, so I wanted to share it as a warning.

One day, I was looking for a good spot to take pictures of snow-covered mountains, so I stopped my car on the side of a riverbank road (more precisely, a farm road off the main road).

I later realized that where I had casually stopped, there was a large, deep irrigation channel, and it was covered with a large, heavy concrete lid and a grating.

That day was the day after a heavy snowfall, and the irrigation ditch was almost completely buried in snow, making it impossible to even tell it was there.

I went outside to look for a good shooting spot, but couldn’t find one. As I opened the door to get back in to look for another spot, my car keys slipped from my hand and fell into the snow.

Since it was fresh snow, I figured they’d gone deep, so I dug, and lo and behold, I found a grating!

Funnily enough, I couldn’t comprehend it at the time. A few seconds later, I realized, “Did I fall into the irrigation ditch?” The ditch was about 1 meter wide and 1 meter deep, and there was a fair amount of water flowing through it, so I felt a sense of despair.　

However, after calming down and thinking for a bit, I had some cheerful ideas: “With this width and depth, if I can open the grating, I should be able to get in and walk around inside,” and “There were various things attached to the key, so maybe the weight will prevent it from being swept away?” So I looked for a place where the grating might open, dug through the snow, and somehow managed to lift the grating (superhuman strength in a crisis?) and entered the irrigation ditch.

As expected, it was pitch black inside, with only a little light seeping in through the gaps in the grating, making it almost impossible to see inside. However, I remembered I had my smartphone in my pocket, so I used its flashlight to search the area directly below where I had dropped it, but it wasn’t there.

The water level was about half the height of my boots, so I considered the possibility that I might have been swept away. As I walked downstream, I noticed something submerged. Thinking, “There’s no way I’d find it this easily,” I approached, and there it was—a bundle of familiar keys. Having almost given up hope, a complex mix of joy, relief, and fear welled up within me.

Looking back after safely arriving home, I realized several lucky things had happened:

1. It had snowed heavily the day before, and I was wearing boots.
2. The snow piled on the irrigation ditch wasn’t heavy.
3. The irrigation ditch was large enough for a person to enter, and I was able to open the grating.
4. The bundle of keys had some weight to it.
5. My smartphone was in my pocket.
6. The water level wasn’t very high, and the current wasn’t very strong.

I normally never park my car on top of a drainage grate, but this incident reminded me to always check carefully before parking on snowy days.

Those living in snowy regions should be especially careful. It’s best to avoid parking your car in places where the driver’s seat is directly above a drainage grate.