When N brought this up at a small gathering last night, I couldn't help but laugh. Apparently not a day goes by in France that some poor unlucky soul has their ring finger torn off when the ring they wear on it gets caught on some door or other daily obstacle. Talk about the perfect excuse for men not to wear their wedding rings... I told him if the day does come for us and he refuses to wear a ring I'll make him tattoo my name around that finger.
The language the writer uses in the story, however, makes me think a deeper fear lurks in the French male psyche... Jean-Michel Bader isn't just afraid of having a ring take his finger off "like a wire through butter, slicing and taking with it skin, veins, tendons." I think the fear of the doigt découpé stands in for the potential loss of another member. Or maybe they're really afraid of having their droits découpés...
Of course women must lose their fingers just as often as men (the article doesn't break down the statistics). But this whole story just seems like a load of butter to me.
I wonder what the stats are in the States.
[Incidentally, I found an apartment, and will soon be a proud denizen of the Butte aux Cailles, but am still on semi-hiatus while I finish my Woolf paper...]
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Buttes aux Cailles, such a cute neighborhood! Nice cafes and it a has real neighborhood-y feel to it. Plus you are not far from yummy restos in Chinatown. Congratulations on finding a place!
That is such a weird statistic about people having their fingers torn off everyday. Maybe finger tattoos are the way to go (though probably almost as painful as having your finger torn off)
Lucky you ! La Butte aux Cailles is a great neighborhood. There's a nice restaurant around there, "L'avant-goût", rue Bobinot if I remember correctly. Actually, I've never been there, but all the parisian food bloggers I know rave about it…
Buttes aux Cailles? So, we are going to be neighbours!
The core of that neighbourhood is still full of resistants against Chirac, De Vil and Sarko, which makes of it probably the only decent French quarter in Paris, however I would still recommend you to move closer to the Chinatown, the largest in Europe, and defenitely, the place with the best customer service in town.
Good choice, Congratulations
groovy! la butte is my old stomping grounds, and hands down one of the grooviest yet anti-pretentious hoods in paris. l'avant-gout, chez gladine, l'oisivethe, all the pho you can shake a baton at, and last but not least- le merle moqueur! oh the fun you'll have!
sasha
Ugh! I'm so jealous.
There was a long interview about this on the radio, too, so someone is obviously pushing it as a safety issue. It made my skin crawl just to hear the words arrachements digitaux.
Congratulations on your move to Butte aux Cailles. It's such a wonderful old Paris neighborhood.
I have never had a finger cut off but I vividly recall having a ring when I was a child and got my ring finger jammed between my desk chair and the desk as I quickly pulled the chair up -- the ring bent in to a small I shape on my finger. I had to be taken to a doctor to have it removed. Ouch!
Hmmm, I dunno about that excuse to get out of wearing a wedding ring. That sounds a little fishy to me. Think about engagment rings and how easy it is to get those suckers caught. Double hmmmm.
Congrats on the apratment though! Sounds divine!
Bisous,
Ms. Glaze
A new danger?... What will they think of next?...
Hmm... I majored in Jewellery and Metalsmithing in Art School and while I've never heard of this exact accident I guess it could happen...
In school we were warned to make sure the inside of a ring was SUPER SMOOTH. Smooth as butter with inside beveled edges because it is possible to flay a finger with a badly finished ring (when you take the ring off).
la butte aux cailles: awesome. i'll see you guys on saturday then.
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