Friendly warning for anyone who might use a hand mixer: Attach the beaters first. Then plug it in. A few nights ago, I was making Christmas cookies and needed the hand mixer. Got it out, plugged it in, did some other stuff, came back and started attaching the beaters. Just as the second one snapped into place, my right hand slipped and turned on the motor, causing the beater to start turning while my left hand was still holding it. Snap! There goes one of my (latex) nails*. AIIIEEEE! Okay, it didn’t hurt much, or for long, and I’m fine now with a band-aid on. Tomorrow I’ll go back to the salon and they’ll fix it when they can squeeze me in. (And no fear: the nail didn’t end up in the cookie dough. Also there was no bleeding, just a blood blister.)
But I put off posting about this, largely because I was self-conscious about such an avoidable mistake. I mean, I wouldn’t touch a running lawnmower! Now I think I can give myself a mulligan. I’m Gen-X. Which means I grew up before wireless. So for us, the first order of business is “Plug it in.” Now I know better.
*I got into the nail art thing with the best intentions. However, dip manicures are so strong, like a beetle’s shell, that the only way to get the polish off is for the nail tech to use a dremel. After a few months of this, my nails started getting weaker, until they had to be augmented with acrylics. Just the regular length, not Dragon Lady, but they’re fakes, and it’s a different story from when a real nail catches on something.
Oh boy. That hurts. I did it a few times. Dog collar, then raking my Thumb nail too close to where the oven is hot. No pain like burning/melting fake nails. I promise. I lost my natural nail, in that one.
Yeah. I’m an accident waiting to happen most days.
You’d think those things would come with a safety. Almost all power tools come with a safety or at least a “neutral” switch. But I suppose the people designing kitchen appliances are not the same people who are designing power tools.
Most small kitchen appliances come with a plethora of warnings and safety instructions.
There’s always an off switch.
As appliances go a hand mixer is not the most dangerous.
So many things in a kitchen can hurt you in big ways.
I came close to breaking a finger (and did snap a spatula in half) by scraping the bowl in my Kitchenaid mixer down while it was running. And I don’t even have the excuse of being GenX!
Some years ago, a friend of mine had a run-in with a blender and his hand; he lacerated his fingers pretty well, and also managed to spatter his own blood (along with the contents of the blender) onto the kitchen ceiling
And it turns out that the nail salon couldn’t squeeze me in after all. I’ll wait until after Christmas; I can have a bandaid on my finger until then. Conversation piece!
I almost took off a fingernail a month ago. I was vacuuming and something got caught in the carpet brush roller. So I locked the handle in the upright position and reached down under the roller to clear it. That’s when the son of a bitch tried to take my nail. I was sure that locking the handle in the upright position stopped the roller. And it does, on the other vacuum cleaner. But not this one. This one spins the roller come hell or high water. Didn’t lose the nail, but damn that hurt.
Also Gen X. Though in general, over the years I have learned to ask myself one question - in 10 seconds am I going to regret a decision I am making now? Because when you fuck up, you find yourself wishing you could go back in time 10 seconds and not do what you just fucking did. But you can’t. So I try to recognize that those 10 seconds are right now, before I do the stupid thing. It works, at least I think it does. Maybe not with vacuums.
