The Undervalued Opposable Thumb

Recently (last Friday in fact) I had a kitchen incident which resulted in a knife (a rather sharp one) going through part of my thumb and thumb nail. After eventually getting the bleeding to stop, and deciding I wouldn't need stitches, I applied a band-aid. Since my thumb was in some pain, I decided I would avoid using it as much as possible. This led me to the discovery of just how important my thumb truly is. I had one hell of a time try to fasten my buttons, and picking up small items became nearly impossible. Fortunately it was my right hand (I'm a lefty) or writing would have also been quite challenging. I have since learned an important lesson in evolution (I could never have achieved so much in life without my thumb) as well as in common sense (I'm not to be trusted with sharp knives).