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Don't try this at home

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Oct 20, 2006
by Calvin Correli
2 min read

Just a quick note to say that I do not recommend chopping off the tip of a finger. Not that I did, but I got eerily close on Wednesday night when I cut halfway through my left pinkie in addition to the carrot I actually intended to cut.



Lessons learned, or as I like to call them, my Rules of Pinkie:



  • First rule of knife skills: Accuracy over dexterity – I’d seen someone on TV and wanted to force myself to go a bit faster
  • Use a fairly light knife that’s easier to control – my regular knife is dull, so I’m using this other one that’s much more heavy than I’m used to.
  • Don’t practice speed when you mind is elsewhere – I was mulling over some programming problem not really paying attention
  • Throw away the last bit of the carrot – better that than throwing away your finger. I was brought up to not waste food, but there’s clearly a point where it’s better to just eat it right away or throw it away – or get a dog.


All in all, the tip seems to stay put and the wound seems to heal weel. I still don’t have any feeling in the tip of the finger, but so long as it survives I’ll be happy. And I’ll try to be a bit more careful in the future: It turns out that finger is used for more than you’d think.

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About Calvin Correli

I've spent the last 17 years learning, growing, healing, and discovering who I truly am, so that I'm now living every day aligned with my life's purpose.

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7 comments

Dave Bauer
 

You need to curl your fingers, if you are holding the object correctly with the fingers curled under, and using a chef's knife, and not raising it high above the food, its pretty much impossible to cut yourself. Extremely detailed info on how to cut stuff http://lancaster.unl.edu/food/ciqtips-aug03-chefknife.htm
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Reply almost 18 years ago
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Lars Pind
 

Yeah, that's where the "having your mind elsewhere" problem comes in - I just wasn't paying attention.
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Kevin Scaldeferri
 

I actually did slice off the very tip of a finger doing basically what you describe about 10 years ago. It wasn't much, just a millimeter or so; and it pretty much fully healed. You have to look really closely to see that the nail bed is shaped funny. The ends of the vegetable are perfectly good for making stock. OTOH, making stock is time consuming enough that it's pretty debatable whether it's worth making your own instead of buying it. (P.S., I'm no longer in LA. I moved to Portland, Oregon about a month ago.)
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Reply almost 18 years ago
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Mark Aufflick
 

OUCH! Kath almost did that tonight, but just sliced off some of her fingernail instead. By sheer luck she says. Hope it heals well. I notice there are plenty of q's and a's in this entry - looks like you can still type ok!
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Reply almost 18 years ago
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Lars Pind
 

Seem like I've struck a chord somehow. I've been thinking more about Dave's comment about tucking your finger in, and he's of course absolutely right. But how to hold a knife correctly is something I've only learned in the past few years, so whenever I grab a knife and something to cut, I at first do it wrongly, and then I have to correct myself. That seems like a habit worth breaking, but I wonder how. Perhaps something about forcing myself to stop and think just a split second first, each time I grab a knife. It's healing very well indeed, thankfully. I can't feel anything with the affected half of the tip, but that's ok, I can use it to type with almost without penalty. I suspect the penalty is still mostly due to the large bandage on the finger, making me hit caps and a at the same time. It's good to hear, Kevin, that yours healed well, too. This weekend I spent with some family members who, it turns out, also cut their fingers pretty badly, one 3 months ago, the other 25 years ago. They both healed well, though the finger cut 25 years ago has still lost sensitivity in the affected region. Interestingly, I was told that even if the tip were to fall off, a new one would grow out, because it was so near the tip. Amazing organism, the human body.
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Reply almost 18 years ago
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Lars Pind
 

Argh, tonight my good friend "Anders Polls":http://pollas.dk/2006/10/23/listen-to-good-advice-four-finger/ cut the tip of his left index finger. Is it something in the air? I wonder if this is an instance of attracting what you think of? If you're thinking of (not) cutting yourself, you will indeed do it. If you focus on successfully cutting the carrot and being great afterwards, you'll succeed in that? From the good news department, I managed to cut a couple carrots with the same knife and on the same board as last Wednesday, without cutting myself. I was quite a bit slower and more self-conscious, and it was slightly traumatic at first, but it was a good experience overall, slowly regaining faith in my ability to cut only the things I want to cut :)
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Reply almost 18 years ago
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Brian Fenton
 

Sorry to hear about your finger Lars. I think this kind of thing happens to a lot of nerds as they can get lost in deep thought and processing. Sounds like a bit of Mindfulness is what's needed! :-) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindfulness
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