The Knife vs. the Finger

I'm sure you can already guess who would win in such a match-up but I'll share the details and warn that this story might not be for those with a weak stomach.

Ever since I went to my language partner's home to enjoy her home-cooked meals I envied the large knife that made chopping vegetables look easy. Not only was it great for cutting but it was great for smashing garlic cloves and cucumbers (required for making Scott's favorite Chinese vegetable dish). Being a former Cutco saleswoman I feel I know my knives pretty well and the one I bought seemed of good quality with its full tang (the blade was integrated into the full length of the handle) and non-serated blade which made it easy to re-sharpen.

Well, Friday night I was chopping some green onions to go with my noodles for dinner and I suddenly felt a sharp pinch on my index finger. When I took a look at it, I realized it was bleeding and on the cutting board was a bit of finger amongst the onions. Luckily what I cut off was the non-fleshy part of my finger so it didn't take long for the bleeding to stop after cleaning the wound and using some of the Costco-size Neosporin we had and applying some pressure. From the picture you might be able to tell how my index finger isn't as rounded as my middle finger.

Growing up I was warned by my mom to never use the tips of my fingers to guide a vegetable as I was chopping it but after going through over 25 years without a cut, I thought my method was fine. She recommends using your knuckles but can you imagine what it would've been like if I skinned my knuckles instead of chopping a segment of finger? ::shivers:: There's no hard feelings toward the knife though and it'll be one of the few items I'd like to bring back to the States.