"If It Weren't for Bad Luck..."

My youngest daughter, Sarah, returned to culinary school on Monday. She was excited about beginning her next group of studies. A lot of her time, of course, is spent in the commercial kitchen environment.

When I worked at the hotel, I represented the engineering department on the safety committee. Among other things, we reviewed lost-time accident statistics for the hotel. I found out that commercial kitchens can be a very dangerous place.

This afternoon, Sarah called home to say that she was on her way to the hospital. Apparently, another student had walked by her with an exposed filleting knife and cut her left arm about two inches above the wrist.

The cut severed the extensor tendon of her middle finger. They stitched the wound, gave her some pain meds and told her they'd schedule surgery for next week. So instead of school, she'll be coming home for the surgery and several weeks, at least, of physical therapy.

I feel really bad for the kid. She's such a hard worker and, I've been told by others, a terrific team player. That would be Sarah.

What a hard, hard lesson about carelessness in the workplace. Unfortunately for Sarah, she's the innocent party who's paying for someone else's mistake.

LPK
LiveJournal
6.22.2006