Customer impervious to BLOOD and COMMON SENSE

[RichS]

Worst I've ever done was cut my finger on a cat food can lid. The scar itself is numb but the rest of the finger is fine.

That reminded me of my worst work injury, back when I did factory work. I was putting together the cardboard shipping cartons with an air compressor powered staple gun, trying to keep up with the line, when I shot one of the staples into my left thumb.

Same thing, there's a numb spot on the tip of my thumb, but it's fine otherwise.

[Merriweather]

If true, that is both disgusting and hilarious.

Well, my Mother always swore it was true, and so I'm not supposed to doubt it, at least.
I will admit, I never asked to see it whenever I was in the store with her

Just a hunch, but I'd imagine the health department would frown on a human finger in a jar in a deli.

Yeah, you would think so. Only I don't think he kept it in plain site, and it was a small town, and over 40 years ago......
At least he kept it sealed in the jar

[MsCrankypants]

***warning - slightly gross!***

OK, this one didn't happen to me at work, but it just so happens I had a raging bout with the stomach flu that started right after I had lunch at work one day (it was a loooong time before I could eat cup ramen again, let's just leave it at that) - I'd been feeling kind of poorly all day but it didn't hit till after lunch.

I had to leave work in a hurry and drive down to a medical office for my HMO (health-maintenance organization, for those of you not in the States), which was fortunately just down the street from work. I wasn't familiar with this facility, though, and it took me a bit to figure out where I had to go. I'm weak, nauseous, and staggering around in an unfamiliar building - but finally I got to where I needed to be.

I'm standing in line to register, and in front of me is an elderly lady wearing an entire gallon (or so it seemed) of Eau de Old Bag. As noted above, I was weak and nauseous and could barely stand, and although I was five feet from her, the stench hit me like a ton of bricks. I explained to her that I was very ill and nauseous, and asked if she'd maybe let me go ahead, and she barked, "NO! I have an APPOINTMENT!" Um...yeah, maybe, but...I'm on the verge of throwing up here?

Her appointment became a moot point in about half a second - I was leaning against the arm of a chair, trying to take shallow breaths and trying my best to stay on my feet, when I threw up in front of God and everyone in the waiting room, right there on the floor (it couldn't be helped), and nearly collapsed. A nurse rushed out and got me a wheelchair and an emesis basin and whisked me to an exam room. The last thing I saw and heard was the old hag's catbutt face and her loud complaints of how it STANK of VOMIT in the waiting room, and how unfair it was that SHE had an APPOINTMENT, and yet I got to the head of the line. Hey, eff you, lady - ever heard of medical triage? Maybe if you hadn't bathed yourself in your cat's litter box, I wouldn't have vomited all over the floor.

So really, I'm not terribly surprised at these SCs. Most of them seem oblivious to the fact that the universe does not, in fact, revolve around them.

[Seshat]

My arm flew up to grab something to keep my head out of the fryer and hit the fry light.

I knew something was very wrong when barely a minute was past and the skin looked like it had started boiling.

FYI for anyone else who gets a burn (even a 'light' burn!)

Running water. Cool but not chilled. Immediately.

The goal is to draw the heat out of that area of the body before it starts cooking your flesh. But not too fast - too fast and your flesh will simultaneously cook and freezer-burn.

So lukewarm running water. Shove the burned part under the cold tap and keep it there - or if you're in an area where cold water alone is freezing-cold, make it mixed cold and warm water - take the chill off.

Keep it there for longer than you think. Keep it there until well after it 'feels okay now'. Get ALL the extra heat out.

Get the patient to a hospital:
* if the skin is blistered, charred, or (god forbid) actually starting to come off, or
* if the burn is all the way around a limb, or
* if the burn is near the face, throat, hands, feet, or crotch, or
* if the patient is dizzy, weak, feverish, chilled, shivering or in a cold sweat, or
* if the patient has any condition that makes even minor injuries serious, or
* if it's any other 'not a minor injury' injury.

Otherwise once all the extra heat is out of the wound, treat as for any surface wound.

[mattm04]

I once got a minor burn on the oven at work. I was holding my hand under the sink when a SC approaches.

SC: *talks before I even look at her* do you have <item>?
Me: I don't know off the top of my head. I can't help you...
SC: but your heeeeeeere
Me: I got burned. I have to deal with this first.

The SC muddered under her breath and walked away.

[bsaana]

Years ago, when I worked at a fast food place that had arches of yellow (most say gold), I tried to put my finger through a tomato slicer. I do have some scars from it, and the slicer was missing its nice plastic handle that would keep hands out of the way. It wasn't too terribly bad. Had to wear a glove the rest of the night though.

The store manager on a Sunday morning got the tip of one of her fingers taken off by the bagel slicer.... OUCH.

The only other thing that was absolutely horrible was one the other guys there, while dumping a VERY hot bucket of fryer oil, a bunch of it landed on his legs, in the uniform pants everyone wore at that time. Another big OUCH.

This all happened nearly 11 years ago now. The best thing though, is while working there I met my wife who (you'll never guess) worked there too.


Oh and I don't remember the story around it - one of the people I worked with there got fired for throwing a pickle slice at a customer......

[RecoveringKinkoid]

The paper cutter at Kinko's was built so that you had to have two hands to operate it. You had to press two buttons simultaneously on either side of the machine. This was so both your hands were busy for when the big, razor sharp steel guillotine came swooping down that was capable of slicing through two reams of paper within about two or three seconds.

It was also capable of slicing through the fingertip of the idiot that thought it would be faster and easier to rig one button so that it was depressed all the time while he worked the other button with one hand and the paper with the other.

Fortunately, the thing has a back fence, so you're only able to get your fingers under there far enough to, say, slice through your nail.

Really, making something foolproof is only a speed bump in the Fool Arms Race.

About two weeks later, about the time the bloodstains were starting to fade, someone else did the exact same thing.

[Teysa]

When I still worked in the butcherblock I cut my finger on the meat slicer. I very calmly put a paper towel around it and told my co-worker I was going to the pharmacy to get a bandage. The pharmacist took one look and said I needed to get to the clinic. She paged up front and they arranged for another employee to take me. Almost two years later, I still have no feeling in the tip of that finger.

What's funny is that the following day, everyone in the department was shocked I came back to work. As I told them, I hurt my finger, not my leg, and I still needed the money. I had to be careful not to get the bandage wet, but otherwise I could still do most of my duties. Of course there had to be one sucky customer in all of this.

She wanted some salmon sliced, but the knife had poofed. My co-worker and I tried to find it but had no luck. Meanwhile customer is getting more and more agitated. She went up to the front and complained. The front end manager came back and started asking why we wouldn't cut this lady's salmon. Co-worker explained that we couldn't find the knife and that with the big old bandage on my finger, I couldn't put my hand in the dish sink to see if it was there. Customer's response was "That's not my problem." (Of course, I could have used my other hand, but I was kind of out of it from the pain meds and wasn't thinking clearly.)

One of the meat cutters finally used one of his knives, so she got her precious salmon. I swear that particular customer was a constant pain in the rear. She was always unhappy about something yet to this day she still shops at my store.

[ShadowTiger]

I think the worst cuts I've ever gotten were from pulling back skin tags a bit too far. The next worst, ... well, ... we have boxcutters at work. I've never cut myself on a boxcutter despite the universal warnings from everyone else not to cut yourself. It's the boxes that do the cutting! I can't tell you how many times I've gotten such a nasty papercut (Cardboardcut?) from any given box.

[Andara Bledin]

I've never cut myself on a boxcutter despite the universal warnings from everyone else not to cut yourself. It's the boxes that do the cutting! I can't tell you how many times I've gotten such a nasty papercut (Cardboardcut?) from any given box.

I've never really cut or stabbed myself badly with anything.

But I will agree that cardboardcuts are about the most evil and vile type of cut you can get because the edges are rough, so they tear while they cut, and it stings like a bitch and bleeds all over everything.

Scotch tape is your friend if you do that, tho, since it will keep the edges together and leave nowhere for the blood to go, so it stops, too.

^-.-^

[Nohbody]

I've never cut myself on a boxcutter despite the universal warnings from everyone else not to cut yourself. It's the boxes that do the cutting!

As a stocker, I have to add an "A-FREAKING-MEN" here.

On a related note, even though they're technically not allowed, I've been cut fewer times by the "non-safe" box cutter (example here) than the safety box cutters (example here) we're supposed to use.

The few times the non-safe kind cut me, it would've happened the same with the safety kind, as the events happened when I had the cutter open for use, and didn't watch the other hand's location closely enough.

[XCashier]

I was even more amused when the health department suddenly dropped by a few days later to rip into the owner for missing a lot of basic requirements.

I should hope so! Okay, maybe safety guards and equipment and a fully stocked first aid kit might be a little costly, but not nearly as costly as workman's comp and replacing injured employees. Ounce of prevention, you know.

[Andara Bledin]

On a related note, even though they're technically not allowed, I've been cut fewer times by the "non-safe" box cutter (example here) than the safety box cutters (example here) we're supposed to use.

I'm not sure how you would really go about cutting yourself with the little razor sleeve cutter. There's barely enough of it to hold for use as is.

I much prefer the heavier type, myself, as I get things open a whole heck of a lot faster when I don't have to do weird hand contortions just to bring enough leverage to bear.

^-.-^

[bunnyboy]

I'm not sure how you would really go about cutting yourself with the little razor sleeve cutter. There's barely enough of it to hold for use as is.

You'd think so... but damn if I didn't find out the hard way that yes those things can cut and they bleed like a stuck pig.

[Andara Bledin]

You'd think so... but damn if I didn't find out the hard way that yes those things can cut and they bleed like a stuck pig.

Well, sure, they cut. They're still razor blades.

Since I have to use a lot more leverage to get those kind to actually work for me, I'd cut myself much deeper using those. Never gotten myself with my clunky, old-school box cutter, though.

^-.-^