Disproportionate Pain

I used to work in construction and part of working in construction is getting hurt. In fact, I can remember times when I would make it through an entire day without hurting myself only to smash my finger in my truck door while I was getting in to go home. I think it's just part of the job. Somewhere in the bylaws of construction work it says, "while working construction it is imperative that at least once a day you must stab yourself, shoot a nail through your fingers or absorb the shock of a piece of 1/4 inch plywood as it flies off a table saw and hits you below the belt, or everything you've built that day will fall apart and you'll have to start from scratch in the morning..."

One of the most frequent wounds I experienced was the infamous splinter. Now I know this is a small wound and shouldn't be making prime time on my blog, but man the pain would just drag on and on for days. Especially, if the sliver of wood happened to be from a piece of treated lumber. I have actually seen grown men - adult, intelligent, experienced men - cut into their finger with a rusty razor blade in order to dig out a tiny splinter because they would rather deal with the pain of the cut then endure the 3 day paralyzing ache of the splinter.

Why does a splinter hurt so bad? Here's my idea - it hurts so bad because the pain is disproportionate to the problem. In other words, if the tip of a Phillip's head drill bit slides off a 3" screw and punctures the finger nail on your index finger (hypothetically now) you expect that to hurt; you brace for the pain. When it sends waves of nausea through your body over the course of the next few days your fine because you expect it. But when you finally pull the fleck of galvanized metal that has been keeping you awake all night out of your finger you're left thinking, "Was that it?" The pain is disproportionate to the problem and therefore seems more painful...

I think you probably have "splinters" in your life; situations that can be easily resolved with a phone call, or by asking forgiveness for your stubborn, pig-headedness. Pull the splinter out - it's causing more pain then it's worth!