I’m desperately trying to fill my water bottle, but it’s not working. The stream of water is about an inch high and quickly shrinking — impossible to get any water. I’m also trying to juggle the hall pass, my cap and the bottle itself, all in my right hand. After all, my left wrist is all bandaged up, useless.
Let me start by saying I’m not actually hurt. Well, I was. Last weekend my left wrist randomly started hurting on Saturday, with the pain only getting worse throughout Sunday. I couldn’t put any pressure on it, let alone bend it comfortably.
So I got some gauze and wrapped it up. It felt a lot better after school on Monday, so I stopped wearing it. But those few days got me thinking — just how many things do we do with our hands? So to answer this question, I got out the gauze again and wrapped back up my wrist. Here’s the verdict:
It was impossible.
I constantly found myself picking up my backpack, books, even small stuff like my pencil bag, with my “hurt” wrist. I got good at balancing my phone while texting with one hand, and I mastered the art of taking the caps off highlighters with just my thumb. But I learned immediately that, even though I’m right-handed, my left hand was still necessary.
It’s automatic. My lunch is under my desk so I grab it. With my left hand.
I must admit I felt pretty dumb. There was nothing wrong with my wrist, yet I was pretending it was useless. The worst was when concerned friends and teachers asked what was wrong. For the majority of the time I felt too embarrassed to explain my self-imposed handicap, so I just said I was okay and not to worry.
By the end of the day, I was glad to remove my fake cast. I briefly considered wearing it for the remainder of the afternoon but quickly decided against it. It was hot and cumbersome and kept getting caught on things. I wanted my hand back.
It was a strange experiment but I’m still glad I did it. I’m so grateful for my two working wrists, and I have a newfound respect for those with a broken hand. But at the end of the day, I don’t even want to think about what it would be like without a leg.