rope burn slippin thru my fingers

So Friday I had the pleasure of driving the forklift off the loading dock... Yeah I know sounds serious but in reality it was more just frustrating. See, for some reason when I pulled back on the handle to make the forklift go backwards, it went forward. Nice huh? so it took me about 3-4 hours to get reverse to work (cleaning contacts etc.), the lift back onto the dock Involving using an electric pallet jack and multiple pallets to lift the front end of the lift level with the dock (it was high centered), and finally drive it back into the building so I could lock up for the night and leave. The highlight and joy of my weekend right?