I'm Real Good at Not Stabbing People

So many bloody co-workers.
I've seen a cook almost stab another cook in the head before. Not on purpose, just not thinking. He was using the back of his knife to try and push something down into the spinning blade of a blender. The blades hit the handle and forced it up and into the air (still in the cooks hand) with enough force to kill anyone that might have been standing behind him.
He came about a half inch from his co-workers head. No one even noticed until I kinda freaked out about it. Even the person he almost killed didn't even notice.
One of my line cooks took the majority of his fingernail and a large chunk out of his pointer finger last week.

I've seen a slicer covered in blood from someone putting their thumb into the moving blade, length wise.
I heard about a Chef that pretty much filleted his own arm while cleaning a tuna.
I saw the aftermath of how many places you can break your arm if you reach into a Hobart Mixer while it's ON.
I've put the tip of my scimitar into the base of my own middle finger on my left hand. It's amazing that when you look fast enough, before the blood has a chance to be pumped from your heart into those open vessels, it is white.

And, I did what any normal person would do in that situation.........I washed it out, wrapped it in a lot of paper towel and tried to finish working.

Someone noticed that I had my hand held up to my chest, I was pale and there was blood running down my arm. They made me go to the hospital. Only five stitches. This was years ago.

Anyone who is reading this right now, who knows me in the kitchen or just works in a kitchen, I am not trying to play myself off as some rare bad ass that will work through whatever. This is for the people that don't work in kitchens, that don't really know what it's like.

When someone gets hurt while working, you make sure they are OK and expect them to go back to work. I'm just now coming to terms with this not being normal. It's always been normal for me.

You cut the shit out of your finger while cleaning lamb racks? Well, better not do that again today. That would suck to cut the same hand or finger twice in the same day.

That huge, fresh, blister on the tender part of the top of your hand between your thumb and pointer?, You know every time you reach into a hot oven when and where that came from.

The younger guy that's wining about his feet hurting or the sweat stinging his eyes?, you'd rather solder your own fingers together with a hot sizzle pan in front of him just to shut him up. Instead you put the handle of his knife in the deep fryer right before he comes back to his cutting board. Or at least you think about it.

I've seen many blood filled gloves and many cooks that don't even acknowledge the fact that they are bleeding. They make the necessary precautions not to contaminate anything they are working on and just do what they can to keep working.

Why?

It's the same reason they work with knives and fire to begin with. They love it. They care about what they do. There was never a thought to "go home". If that's your reaction, you might as well. And look for another career. Or, if it happens (when you're starting out) and you come back for more, the shit you take from your fellow line cooks for leaving them with more work to do will certainly change your pain threshold.

As far as me "not" stabbing someone? The kitchen towels where held in the liquor closet. Dry rags are a VERY valuable commodity in some kitchens. One guy was prying the door open with a fork and I was trying to get behind the latch of the door to pop it open with a knife. It slipped. I barely grazed him.

We, in this profession, spend the majority of our days with knives in our hands. Hopefully really sharp knives in our hands. And everyone around us has a knife in their hand. And we're OK with that.