What does one do with a clumsey daughter?

self | 9/05/2011 | self

[Little Bill]

I was insructing my Daughter into theymystries of CanningPickels. She is a Graduate of Culinary School along with several other degrees which added nothing to her employabilty.

I bought a cheap mandolin to insure consistant thickness of the cukes we were slicing, she proceeded to cut the tip of a finger off, The blood, the blood, after doing first aide I sent her off to the ER.

Is this normal? I mean cooks deal with sharp stuff, how many fingers lie at the bottom of our salads?

[Little Bill]

I am going to harrass her to do some time as a line cook or a prep cook.

[the invisib1e hand]

protect her.

[Palter]

Heh, perhaps its jut lack of concentration. Something else could be on her mind. It could be lack of employable assets as you put it. We all drift in thought, some just do it with a knife in their hand.

[SuzyQue]

Perhaps cooking isn’t her thing?

[CGASMIA68]

clumsy or just spacey?

[afraidfortherepublic]

Love her.

[Lazamataz]

Seal her in bubblewrap.

[Secret Agent Man]

This may be the lesson she needed to learn, in terms that there are some chores where your mind can wander a bit and it’s not a big deal, but when dealing with instruments that can injure you if you aren’t always careful, better to stay focused.

Not everyone learns the same way and sometimes a brick to the head (or a knife to the fingertip) is required to cement a lesson into the brain.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

That is why you use a hand guard and yes professional chefs do cut themselves, some more then others but there are very few that don't have a few interesting scars.

[Puppage]

Pad the corners?

[bayouranger]

Nerves...stress..lack of sleep...hangover....doing too many things at once...or....drum roll.....an accident.

I’ve seen it all working in restaurants in my younger days.

Remember, it can always be worse.

[warsaw44]

Any chance she gets nervous working on tasks around dad?

[chuckee]

It sounds like she is trying very hard. Bless her.

[NautiNurse]

Perhaps you were hovering and managing the task too closely, thus making her nervous enough to slice her finger. Harrassing your daughter appears to have negative effects. Consider trying another method to encourage her.

[VoiceOfBruck]

Get her a more expensive mandolin

[Ghost of Philip Marlowe]

I know nothing about the culinary arts, which may be the root of my uninformed question.

Why are you using a mandolin to measure the thickness of cucumbers? Is that the musical instrument? How, pray tell, do you use a mandolin on a counter to cut cucumbers? Isn’t that incredibly awkward? If so, I’d think that working in a confined, awkward environment may throw off her “groove” and could lead to cuts.

[Little Bill]

After $25,000 it better be!

[Sacajaweau]

Sounds like she hasn't found her niche......Or has she...living at home with mom!!!

She'll never have to cut cukes again!! Smart girl.

[nodumbblonde]

Maybe she’s like my daughter and gets tripped up (pun intended) by mere simplicity. Mine can do the most difficult gymnastics routines and tumbling passes but faceplants at least 10 times a day just WALKING. Not even chewing gum at the same time, either! :O

[Little Bill]

First.