The Fourth of July Finger Safety PSA

Today we celebrate the birth of the United States of America. We'll hang by the pool, have some hot dogs, some beers, and kickback to watch fireworks. 

However those fireworks, while a thing of beauty up in the sky, are a serious threat to your fingers.

It has been well-publicized (by me) that I suffered a finger injury while playing pickup volleyball that, thankfully, was not life threatening. It did however alter the trajectory of my life leading me to become an advocate for finger safety.

I would never wish the finger pain I suffered upon my worst enemy (except Keith. Seriously Keith, you're a dick). Volleyball is a leading way of sustain a TFI (Traumatic Finger Injury), but it's nothing compared to fireworks, or as we call them in the TFI awareness community, "The Widow Maker".

You see, the Fourth of July is the biggest fireworks day of the year, which means that it is essentially the Super Bowl of blowing off your own fingers with fireworks. The act of accidentally (or purposefully, the TFI community doesn't discriminate) blowing off your own fingers is serious. The same way a cat is said to have nine lives, you only have ten fingers (TFI community includes thumbs as fingers) and when they're gone, they're gone.

If you lose fingers your life will never be the same. Think about trying to put on a pair of gloves with some fingers missing.

Did you it? Did you think about putting a glove on?

Yeah. Sounds like it'd be pretty difficult doesn't it?

So be careful when you decide to see how long you can hang onto a firework before it explodes and maybe don't use a cigarette to light a firework while you hold a Bud Light in the other hand. You'll be thanking me, and the rest of the TFI community, when all ten of your fingers are right at home on your hand where they belong.