Odd Compliments

The other day I got an odd complement. I'll get to it in a minute.
It made me think about another time that I got an odd compliment.

One summer, I was working in the garden center at Hy-Vee. I loved working there with only a few exceptions-days that were really, really hot, days that were wet/cold and days when my shoes got absolutely soaked. I spent my days rearranging plants, checking people out, pruning things, loading soil and learning to drive a forklift. (I wasn't very good as to be expected.) At the end of the summer, I was moved inside to GM. A much more boring job. Somehow one day, I was helping a man with tanning lotions. I asked him something like 'what exactly are you going for?' To which he responded that he wanted a tan like mine. I laughed because I know nothing about tanning except that sun + skin = tan. I told him that I had spent all summer working outside and that's how I got so tan. I do tan really, really well. I rarely ever wear sunscreen (I'm a bad person full of free radicals.) and rarely ever burn. If I do burn, its normally gone in a few days. My hair gets all these natural gold red highlights. My skin turns a rich golden brown. My tan lasts into the winter too as long as my skin doesn't get too dry.

Anyway, my odd complement came the other day at work. I was vaccinating two very large (humongous) cats for a woman that I had seen several times. Out of the blue, she says 'you have very little hands.' Now this has been said to me before but normally what follows it is a backhanded complement about how small and short my fingers are. (I have dwarf hands.) But this woman genuinely meant that my hands were small. I must have looked at her really funny because then she started on some long thing about how vets normally have these really big strong hands. I wanted to tell her that my hands looked small because I was handling her huge cats. (They weren't fat, just huge. The way I like them!) I went on to tell her that my hands were the typical woman's hand size (based on surgical gloves)-this link talks about surgical instruments being too big for women's hands, which I find to be true. But however, I have shorter fingers (which she disputed) and broader palms than many women. I compare my finger length to anyone that disputes my short fingers. My fingers are consistently one knuckle length (about 1/2") shorter. Unfortunately, my small hands and short fingers do provide a disadvantage. I'm not particularly nimble (a bad trait in a surgeon), I'm not particularly strong, and consistently, I can't feel a dog's prostate. Its a problem. I've been doing a lot of rectals lately in a search for a prostate that I can actually feel.

Anyway, after this weird complement, I started thinking about all the things that my hands do. To which, immediately, I had this Delta sink commercial stuck in my head. I was thinking that it sounded like The Count from Sesame Street, which it is.
There are so many things that my hands (no matter how short and stubby my fingers are) can do.
I can show affection with a pet of a cat's head, a rub of the dog's belly or stroking my husband's cheek.
I can provide comfort to a grieving client with a pat on the back or a hug.
I can alleviate suffering with a bandage, administration of pain medications or the injection of euthanasia solution.
I can prevent and treat illness.
I can perform surgery.
I can sew and be crafty.
I can provide nutrition by feeding my pets or making dinner for my husband.
I can provide entertainment by typing this blog.

So my hands are pretty awesome. They rank up there right next to my kidneys. Now to put some lotion on them and go to bed!