Does this hurt? How about now?

Tonight as I was putting away some sheets in the linen closet (which could just as easily be called the soccer ball closet, the pet-gate closet, or even the green suede shoes closet) I caught the edge of my left middle fingernail on some sliver of wood hiding in the far back, just by the forehead caving lamp.

A note: if you're ever caught during a power outage, a forehead lamp is great fun to have. It's probably really annoying for anyone who has to look at you, but when you're wearing it you feel this surge of power. Everywhere you look, there is light! As well as people covering their faces because you're blinding them.

So yes, I caught just the edge, the last 1/8th of my fingernail on this little piece of outcropped wood and, um, it hurt. Right now it has that little white line running down the side like what occurs when you're trying to open the packaging on a new electronic device encased in thick plastic. Every little bend and a white line pops up, but it never breaks! Good for nails, bad for getting to that little USB storage device.

Here's where it gets human. Right after I hurt my finger, I quickly withdrew it from the closet and held it in my right hand. And, before I even looked at it, I started squeezing it really hard to see how much it could possibly hurt. Not because I love the feeling of compressed bent fingernails, but because I wanted to see just how hurt I really was.

Does anyone else do this? It's difficult sometimes to know how badly you're injured, you know, with your body doing the whole shock thing or you have an adrenaline rush or beer or whatever, doesn't matter. But my thinking is that if you can handle the pain caused by, I guess you'd call it, "worsening the problem" then you're not that hurt.

Now I'm not saying you jab a wooden skewer into a knife wound and root around or anything, but if you stub your toe or bang your thumb with a hammer or you throw some ice onto a blazing hot glass pan and step in the shards which inevitably end up on your kitchen floor, and you can deal with pressing somewhat firmly on the wound, you'll probably be okay.

Or not, in some cases, I suppose. I mean, if you stick your hand in a vat of hydrofluoric acid you'll be dead before you feel much of anything. So, in conclusion, general advice: bang your thumb, you'll be fine. Hand in a vat of acid, look for a nearby holy man.