PEEL'D

It's the simplest of devices, and yet I seem to be making an utter hash of handling it, especially it seems, and perhaps ironically, whenever I'm making a hash.

Actually, it wasn't a hash at all, but more of a stir-fry, but hash sounded better. Anyway, whichever it was, it involved a potato that needed peeling, and therefore a potato peeler had to be brought into play.

The thing is that, after several incident-free years of wrangling my old-style vegetable peeler, the one where the handle is an extension of the blade rather like in a knife, we recently bought a selection of new ones where the cutting edge runs at ninety degrees to the handle, and every time I use one of them, I seem to be taking a slice out of one or other of my digits, which I'm sure adds little to the flavour.

This time it was my left thumb and it's only when you've taken a chunk out of your left thumb that you come to realise just how much you actually use it in day-to-day life.

Turning off a tap, using the command keys on a keyboard, trying to open a coffee jar, taking a CD off its spindle, eating a bag of Hula Hoops… the slight wince of pain that registers in the mind each and every time is enough to remind me just how much I take my left hand for granted, given how generally right-handed I actually am.

Of course I got lucky really. The tip of the thumb was protected by the fingernail, a chunk of which flew off in that dreadful moment, otherwise the wound would haver been much, much worse.

Thank God for evolution, eh…? (If that's not too oxymoronic…)

Of course, I was only going to mention this because I seem to be making a habit of it, what with the potato peeler slicing off bits of my fingernails twice in as many weeks, because the nail on the index finger of my right hand is only just growing through from the last time I did this.

But then I remembered something.

The last time it wasn't a potato peeler I was using at all…

No, last time I was grating some cheese to make some toasted sandwiches and managed to grate my finger instead, so that's two of the simplest kitchen devices that I've proven myself massively incompetent at handling recently.

Perhaps I ought to just give up and start to order takeaways instead…?