Taking the Time to Stop and Think - It Just Might Save a Finger

I’ve noticed I make my biggest blunders when I get in a hurry and don’t think about what I’m doing. Just recently, I was given a sharp reminder when my impatience led to a cut finger. 

It all started when our grandson, Kyler, was coming to spend the night for the first time. Since most of my wife’s family had not met him yet, we had planned a large fish fry. I left work early so I could get prepared for the meal as well as spend some time with him before dinner, but I somehow got behind and was hurriedly putting things together.

I was cutting a summer sausage into thin slices on a platter when it happened. I got to the very end of the sausage which was hard to hold and a little uneven from my carving. In my haste, rather than use a fork to hold the end piece in place for the final cut, I held it with my fingers and began cutting away from my hand. As I applied pressure, the sausage flipped and my knife turned inward. Blood went everywhere, and the sausage wasn’t bleeding. I know better! I always cut away from my fingers and hands. In fact, in high school, I actually worked in the local butcher shop and I never lost a finger there. But now, because of my gaffe, I was running late, had a cut finger that would not stop bleeding and some of our guests arrived early. Amazing how I can make matters worse when I get in a hurry.   

I share this because I noticed it is the same for me at work.  I make my biggest mistakes when I am in a hurry or don’t think through what I am doing.  I hope this painful story will help you and me to remember to stop and think.  When we get the busiest and most stressed, that is the moment we need to stop and think, do I need a fork here? 

Take my advice, reach in the drawer and get the fork out, it’s much easier on the fingers.