Gimme Five

I just read an article that many of you may have seen and thought to yourself, "wow the things doctors can do today," but to me it held more of my interest.

First Double-Arm Transplant Performed

A team of 40 doctors, nurses and assistants in Germany spent about 15 hours on July 25 and 26 attaching two arms to a farmer who had lost both his arms in an accident six years ago. On Friday, the surgeons announced it was the world's first ever double-arm transplant.

In the United States in 2006, a Michigan man got a hand transplant 30 years after losing his own in a machine press. Within a year he was able to write with it, according to the Web site of Jewish Hospital of Louisville, Ky., where the operation was performed.

Somewhere along the line I also missed the successful hand transplant.

Now, after reading about both of those major operations, I figure a smaller transplant should be a lot easier.

Tomorrow I am making my calls to the doctors in search of a finger transplant.

Well, to be more specific, a finger and a half is really what I am looking for.

As silly as that may sound at my age, the reality is you just don't know what you had until it's gone.

I would guess that is why the surgeries mentioned above were done.

Of course for me when I was a kid it would have been nice to have all ten of my fingers.

I know for a fact my math scores would have been higher because when counting on my fingers I always came up short.

The typing teacher would have allowed me to take her class which would have made it easier to do this blog.

The music teacher would have let me take the piano or clarinet lessons I wanted to take.

In the school play I surely would have gotten the part of Uncle Sam.


I could have stuck my finger in the bully's chest the day I finally got the nerve to stand up to him.

Then there were the 70's - you know, the era of peace and love where to get a little love you flashed the peace sign. That was a difficult time for me as well!

Not to mention the dating scene when you would go out to a noisy restaurant and when the host asked how many in your party and because of the noise you wanted to hold up two fingers but instead had to shout it out which never impressed the date.

Let's not forget, I coached youth sports and when the kids on my teams did good I would give them a high three and a half.

They always played harder for me thinking they were not quite playing their very best thus warranting a full high five.

But reality is having ten fingers then was not all that important as it is now.

Why is it so important to me now you ask?

Let me tell you, I live in Las Vegas where among other things the drivers fail to yield, stop at a stop sign, always run a red light and love to tail gate just to name a few things.


It is important now so I can use the gesture known as the "bird", "flipping the bird", "flipping someone off", "flicking off", "shooting a bird", "flying the bird", "the single-finger salute", and "birdie worthy's" to the stupid drivers we have in this town.