You Shouldn't Put Your Thumb in There

Many years back, I had just pulled up to our house and I was unloading items from the trunk of my 2013 Chevy Camaro LT2 RS. For a reason that still escapes me, I somehow managed to shut my thumb inside my trunk closure as I closed the trunk. So here we are. My thumb in the trunk. My keys, purse, and phone all still inside the car and the driver's side door still open. Well, shit. Now what?

My daughter, who was only four at the time, is with me. In my panic. I start screaming, "Shi! Shi! Open the trunk! Go to the door! Push the button to open the trunk! Shi!" She does walk to the drivers side door and look at it but doesn't understand what button it is that I want her to push. My panic turns into her panic, she goes inside the garage (the garage door was open since that was how we went in and out of the house), sits on the step that leads inside the house while covering her ears and crying. Still in my crazy panic, I continue to yell at her, trying to get her to come back to help me open the trunk. No one else at my house is home but we are living in military housing townhouses and I start to hope that maybe someone will hear me. At this point, it finally dawns on me to calm down and I start taking a couple of breaths and then try again to get Shi to help me while not screaming my head off at her.

Right around this time, my neighbor comes outside from all of the commotion. Although we have talked a couple of times, we aren't 'hang on the weekend' kind of neighbors. He looks at me, sees that I'm stuck and says, "how do I open it?" I explain, he opens it and I'm free.....but of course, that's not where this story ends. For background, I'm a triple threat kid, meaning I do band, chior, theeatre. I am a bowler but that's about it. Other sports, especially contact sports, are not my thing and I've never broken a bone in my life......until this day. My neighbor takes a look at my thumb that is now severely swollen and bleeding fairly heavily at this point. He goes inside his house and comes back out with a hand towel, his wife, and two sons in tow. They have already devised a plan. I will go with him to the military hospital. Shi will stay with the wife and the two kids. I try to tell them that I'm fine and that I don't need to go. They insist. I tell them I will leave the house open in case Shi needs anything inside but it's military hospital and the ER and I don't know how long that would take. They both insist that none of that matters and the plan will still be executed...well if you insist.

On the way to the military hospital, I called my spouse to explain to him what happened. We discussed whether he goes home or goes to the hospital for me. My neighbor tells him that either way is fine. If Mike wants to go home, my neighor insists he will stay with me for the duration of my care and bring me home. If Mike wants to go to the hospital, my neighbor will go home and they will keep Shi for however long is necessary. Mike decides he will go to Shi once he is able to leave work and my neighbor can stay with me. That's a tall order for my neighbor but he insists. If you haven't been to a military hospital E.R, you could probably fly halfway across the country faster. Most of the time, for non-life threatening events, the whole evolution would probably take you four to six hours...and that's on the early side.

The E.R. eventually gets me back to a bed. Another twenty minutes goes by before someone comes to look at my thumb. After cleaning my thumb, they decide that they want an x-ray. After another 45 minutes, the x-ray is completed and we wait thirty minutes for the results. The results are back and I have chipped a bone in my thumb. My first thought? "Perfect! It is my left hand so I can still bowl." My second thought you ask? "Well, how am I going to drive my manual car?" After a couple more hours, they get it all documented, I am bandaged up and given my brace that is supposed to help me keep my thumb steady for six weeks while it recovers.

To this day, I am not sure how exactly I was able to shut my thumb in my own trunk. I now also always have my keys on me when utilizing my trunk. Lastly, to this day, everytime I close the trunk, my daughter says, "Make sure you don't think shut your thumb in again mom." Yeah...thanks for that babe. Thanks a lot.

Repeat after me.

I am kind.

I am smart.

I am important.