Please excuse any typing errors in this post as I am trying to manage with an injured pointer finger. Of all the dangerous things I work with every day, it would be the simple act of pumpkin carving that would cause me the most harm. On Monday my lab and the one we share space with had a pumpkin carving party. It was great fun, especially since many people had never actually gutted a pumpkin before. I began the night touting my former position as a camp counselor where I taught knife safety. I think that is where I went wrong.
At some point in the night when I was trying to follow the BOO! pattern (a level three mastery level, mind you) I noticed that my pumpkin was a bit red. Hmmm. Curious. Then I noticed that my finger was also red. Hmmm. Turns out I had a pretty good gash (two actually) that I hadn’t noticed because the Swiss Army Knife I was using to carve (we had limited resources) was incredibly sharp. Good news was no pain. Bad news is only now, three days later, am I realizing exactly how deep these cuts are. So as I wait for the doctor to call me back and contemplate just grabbing some super glue and sealing these suckers up on my own, I thought I would share my experiences with you.
So…beware your next lab outing. It could be more dangerous than lab itself although it does seem that science is becoming more socially dangerous than I had ever thought possible. I am referring, most immediately, to the small blurb on cnn.com the other day about the sodium azide poisonings at Harvard. This isn’t the first incidence of lab coffee poisoning that I have heard about either. It seems the break room may be one of the more hazardous environments in high stress labs.
And now I must go to urgent care and get glued back together. Take me as a bad example and please stay safe this Halloween!
Wow, I hadn’t seen any of those lab poisoning stories before! That’s crazy!
I hope your finger heals soon!
Scary! Still, you expect things to happen in the lab, so you stay focused. But relaxing at a break…dangerous. Hope your finger heals fast!
I’ve also cut off a bit of my finger quite painlessly with a Swiss Army knife. But a pumpkin-carving party in lab sounds really fun!
And to echo Cath, wow indeed! I was not crazy about the ecological footprint of the Nespresso or Lavazza capsule systems that have sprung up like mushrooms in every lab and office I’ve been in the last few years, but now I see their decided advantage (especially if they’re plugged directly into the municipal water system…)!
Ouch! Hope you’re doing better.
Hint – serrated edges work better. The best tool of all for pumpkin carving is a small drywall saw.
There was an unpleasant incident in these parts some (ok, approaching “many”) years ago when someone poisoned their room-mate with a vial of 32-P they’d lifted from the lab. Very nasty indeed.
I actually saw a guy on TV last night using a Dremel tool to carve a pumpkin. Now that’s dedication.
Lauren – I may do the same this evening. I had my electric jigsaw out last night, no word of a lie. It is a bit of a shame that I didn’t actually end up using it… ;)
Sorry about your finger, but the party sounds like fun!