[A Painful Story] Don't be lazy

This is going to be a slightly painful story.
Please be careful if you are sensitive to such things.

It happened on a holiday, back when my child's weaning was going well.
I was in charge of making the baby food, and I was preparing it from the morning that day as well.

I have a principle of "trying not to create dirty dishes."
Because of that obsession, I was taking the lazy approach of cutting vegetables on the palm of my hand instead of using a cutting board.

Usually, I would cut carefully while paying attention to how much force I was using, but
I made a bad judgment call that day.

What I was cutting was a "pumpkin."

That's right, it is the quintessential vegetable that is hard to cut.I was cutting that pumpkin on the palm of my hand without a cutting board.

The result was just as you would imagine.

The knife slipped, and with that momentum, I
deeply gashed my left ring finger and little finger.

Dripping blood and shooting pain.

My mind felt like it was in a panic, yet calm.
"Oh no... I've done it..."
"For now, put the knife away... the child is here..."

I tried to stop the bleeding, but the amount of blood made me feel slightly nauseous.
I rushed straight to the bathroom and vomited.
My wife was also surprised and rushed over to me.

I had to go to the hospital... but it was a holiday.

I looked up the nearby on-duty doctor and had my wife take me there.

And then, the stitches.

When I arrived at the hospital, the result of the examination was suturing.

Then, before the suturing, a middle-aged doctor and a young doctor whispered to each other...

...Could I be a practice dummy?

While such anxieties were mounting, the procedure began.

First, the middle-aged doctor. With practiced ease, he did 4 stitches in no time.
Next was the young doctor. With unsteady hands, he did 7 stitches.
Although it was finished somehow, I was terrified on the inside.

And then it fully healed, but...

After that, I had follow-up observations and stitches removed at a different hospital.
The doctor who removed the stitches made a slightly troubled face and said one thing.

I know, right?

It is now completely healed.
Although a slight numbness remains in my fingertip, it doesn't interfere with my daily life.

A remark my wife made also left an impression on me.

I truly apologize for the trouble I caused.

What I want to convey with this story

"You might think, 'Over such a small thing?'"
but for me, this was a major lesson.

• Let's stop being lazy

• Let's follow the proper procedures

• If you skip steps, it will eventually come back to haunt you

I learned this painfully well from this incident.
Especially since it was a painful cut.

Since then, I have been properly using a cutting board for cooking.

Everyone, when you cut ingredients, please be sure to use a cutting board.
Okay?It's a promise, alright?