Oops

[marcmagus]

Some lessons have to be learned the hard way before they truly sink in. Proper knife-handling appears to be one of these. It appears there was a little detail of what to do with your off hand (the one holding the food) that didn't quite register with me.

Last night, I learned first-hand (if you will) why it's important that all your fingers be resting on a surface (such as the food you're cutting) when you cut. If, say, your pinky is in the air, it might randomly curl and find its way into the path of the knife.

Having learned this lesson the hard way, I gave myself a nice deep diagonal gash in the fleshy part of the last segment of my little finger. It looked deep enough that I decided to seek medical attention, which was good, because even an hour or so later it was still bleeding quite freely. In fact, even after the six sutures were put in, they had a hard time getting it to stay clean long enough to apply a bandage. There was something pretty neat about watching the doctor put the sutures in, though.

For the next couple days, you can reasonably expect to hear some whining about pain if you talk to me.

Comments

[penguinkraft.livejournal.com]

*hug*

[oldsilenus.livejournal.com]

You have gotten more stitched than I ever have. (I got four when I sliced my left pointer finger open when I was 8 or 9 years old.) Congratulations?

[soulchanger.livejournal.com]

That sucks. I recall the joy of having a new, sharp knife, and having to be extra-crazy-careful not to slice little bits off when you use it.

And yes, it's good to fix your hands in reference to each other. A chef who I once worked under was fond of holding food with knuckles or fingertips (as opposed to the pads of your fingers) to avoid stray bits getting sliced up. I recommend this approach highly.

[marcmagus]

I employ this approach. Apparently I got a little lazy about it, however, and one of my fingers drifted.

[debkitty.livejournal.com]

Sorry to hear about your boo-boo. Hope it feels better soon.

[pigfish.livejournal.com]

Wow, I got cut on that same part of my little finger just last year, but I only needed 5 stitches. and I did NOT watch them put them in. ::shudder:: Feel better!!

[gaerfindel.livejournal.com]

At least you didn't lose part of your finger in the bargin.  There's a piece missing from my right thumb from when I mishandled a deli slicer.  Fortunately, I missed the bone—just barely!  Very nearly fanited from the shock & blood loss, too.  I'd no idea there were that many nerves in the thumb.

Fortunately, the cut was clean.  Never did find the tip of my thumb, however...