This sounds like a dumb and dumber session. I can only add the advice to never hold on to the plaster ring of a steel box on the wall while standing on a ladder and bending over to get two wirenuts to attach the exit light to the two wires you stripped back a second earlier. When bending over the head forms an arc and sure enough, the head meets the wires. Yup, I felt like an idiot. I'm sure each and everyone of us could tell a story where we fudged on the safety rules a little. The nice thing is that we are here to tell the stories.
Ron