A Cautionary Note

Yesterday, an article in the New York Times, 'Hazards: Men, Children, and Lost Fingers' by Eric Nagourney, read:
"Children and men of late middle age face a common peril: they share the distinction of having the highest risk of losing part of a finger...In all, the study found, about 28,000 people go to emergency rooms in the United States each year because of fingertip amputations that occur outside the workplace. Among them, the greatest concentration was in children under 5 and men 55 to 64."

Now, on one hand (Oh, a pun!!), I find myself relieved that I am one of the lucky ones, one of the boys in this world who has gotten past the age of five with all fingers still intact. Knowing this now, I find myself falling to my knees and thanking anyone I can that these two hands have survived!! They've survived!!!! And while this extreme outburst of joy is overwhelming, I have to take a moment to remember all those tips and knuckles that weren't as fortunate to make it to age six. If not for them, who knows what kind of condition my fingers would be in now.

But, if you're like me and have somehow managed to leave those ugly pre-five years unscathed, you've got to be thinking to yourself, "Yeah, so maybe I've had some good years with these fingers, but what of it? Does it really matter? I'm twenty-four now. In thirty-one years, I could lose them all!!!" And, at that point, the odds are against you for another nine years. Nine years of worrying and praying that you don't wake up some morning to find your index finger lying on the floor all alone. What kind of a life is that?! I DID NOT SURVIVE FLOODS AND FIRES AND VARIOUS CRASHES, NOT TO MENTION SCRAPED KNEES AND HANGNAILS, TO HAVE MY FINGERS FALL OFF IN ME SLEEP!!!!

Please someone pinch me and tell me I'm dreaming. How can we protect our young and our elderly? What's the point of living, if not for our fingers?

Here's the actual article:
Times Article (Subscrition Needed)