April 2009

A few weeks ago, I found myself home alone on a snowy Sunday afternoon. I do not mind being home alone, but this particular occasion marked the first time that nobody has been around to help me get a sliver out of my finger! I contemplated leaving it until someone got home, but the sucker hurt just so much! I looked at the thing and decided what the heck, I can get a sliver out of my hand! Why not?! I had never thought it possible to remove a sliver from ones finger with the hand in which the sliver dwells, but I guess that, in the end, I underestimated my own abilities! I thought at first that maybe I could use my teeth because this method has proven quite effective, but it was too far in and so I said to myself, “Well Alaina, you ought to get your tweezers.” Being disabled, I am rather used to having to accommodate things for myself, but this was one area that I had not attempted before. I was never in a position where I would have to and it had never crossed my mind that one day I might find myself in such a predicament. So I grabbed my tweezers and thought for a minute. Before I was going to attempt such a thing, I had to engage in a little bit of strategic planning. I decided that my biggest challenge was the positioning of the tweezers in my fingers, because the sliver was in my pointer finger and thus it was up to my thumb and middle finger to get the thing out. I had to hold it just right, and believe me it took a rather long time. In the end though, I succeeded in removing that dang sliver, and in the process I guess I mastered a task that probably will be put to good use from now on!