Izakaya Part-time Job 5 (Injury Edition)

It's been a while since I've talked about my izakaya job.

This is a bit painful, so please refrain from reading if you are sensitive to such things.

My back hurts, which reminded me of my first time throwing my back out.

It happened when I lifted a beer keg.

I wish it had just been my back, but it was an izakaya with many seats despite having few part-timers.

Being the clumsy guy I am, I was always overwhelmed on weekends.

Anyway, today I was unusually assigned to the drink station.

It's been a while... well, as long as there are no cocktail orders, today should be a breeze.

Wednesday was empty.

As I wrote before, I mentioned that when the drink station is busy, I often stab my hand with the ice pick.

Today, the ice was already crushed, so I was feeling pretty relaxed.

For some reason, it was a day where many Gin Limes were ordered.

Basically, you use one-eighth of a lime.

You make a small slit and hook it onto the rim of the glass.

"Lime again? Oh, we're out of stock. Better cut some."

Since I hadn't been at the drink station for a while, when I tried to cut the lime with a paring knife, it was dull!

"Why didn't anyone sharpen this? Grr."

You know those products where you just run the blade through about 10 times to sharpen it? Swish, swish, swish with a simple sharpener.

Usually, that's enough to get it back in shape, but I hadn't sharpened it in a while, so no matter how many times I tried, it wouldn't cut!

"I've had it! Why don't they take care of their tools?"

I should have just grabbed a knife from the prep station, but when I tried to cut a lime with a dull knife, my hand slipped.

It lightly stabbed my left hand.

Actually, it was a bit more serious than just 'lightly'!

I called my wife right away and we walked to the emergency hospital.

Since we were in the city, there was a hospital nearby.

Around 9 PM, a doctor who had clearly just woken up appeared.

I got five stitches.

So, stitches stop the bleeding, huh?

It didn't even hurt that much.

I was glad it was just that.

I had forgotten about the anesthesia.

Once the anesthesia wore off,

"It hurts, it hurts! Painkillers!"

But I had the stitches removed in about a week or ten days.

I was working even before the stitches were removed.

My medical expenses were free thanks to workers' compensation insurance.

Workers' compensation is important, isn't it? Even though it was my first time using it.

Of course, I brought it from a real whetstone shop and sharpened it thoroughly.

I've been good at sharpening knives since I was a kid. 😄

To all the part-timers.

Even as a part-timer, make sure to take proper care of your tools.