The Importance of Ten Working Digits

As I said a few days ago, I sliced my finger open and now have a bandage from stem to stern and am unable to bend my left index finger. I have since discovered how many things one relies on ones index finger for. Here are a few:

1. Typing. Man, oh man, do I miss typing correctly - I can't bend for the lower line of letters and have to stop and move my entire hand to type a "b" or "v".

2. Shuffling cards. My daughter was playing Candy Land today and wanted me to shuffle that little deck of cards... I couldn't.

3. Gripping anything. My dog takes medication everyday. Usually, I dump two pills into my left hand and, while still holding them, put the lid back on the bottle. Can't do that right now because my good fingers are holding the pills against my palm, and my index finger won't hold the bottle.

4. Giving a "thumbs up". I look like I'm pretending to shoot someone.

5. Squeezing toothpaste. Usually I hold the brush in my right hand and the tube in my left -- but I can't squeeze it with my left hand. The first time I did this I just stared and wondered how I would ever brush my teeth. Then - after a minute or two - I realized I could just switch them and squeeze with my right hand.

6. Put an elastic in my daughters hair. In this instance both items - ponytail and elastic - need to be held firmly. See #3.

7. Applying sunscreen. I nearly poked my daughter's eye out today trying to rub sunscreen onto her face using both hands. And doing it one handed was awkward and messy.

I challenge you all to try living with your finger straight. Take some masking tape and tape it up... see how much you rely on your index finger. Then post a comment here about some things you couldn't do. We'll compare notes.