such a kidder

my husband, B, is an amputee. Specifically, he's missing most of his left pinky finger. Not much in the big picture of amputations. I rarely notice and it's never bothered me. His lack of finger has come in handy in his line of work: he teaches adolescents.  In past years the loss of his precious pinky has been attributed to nose picking, freak farm accidents, slammed car doors (he actually let a date believe she had slammed the door on his finger...), paper-cutters, ("my sixth grade teacher slammed my finger in the paper cutter because I wouldn't stop talking in class" he says), an Amazon pirhana (note: he's never been anywhere near the Amazon), and so on. And today, he managed to traumatize half a dozen neighbor kids with a good look at what's left of his finger. 

While enjoying our nightly evening stroll with M, we stopped to chat with Miss Joy, in whose yard the neighbor kids had congregated. Ages 5-10ish. They had all turned their bikes upside down and were spinning the tires around as fast as the could. Miss Joy, an experienced mother, sensed potential injuries and asked them to stop. No avail. B rose to the occasion and said "Look! This is what happens to kids that spin their bike tires around like that!" Naturally curious, the kids swarmed him to observe his hand and quickly stepped backward, wide-eyed and panic stricken. One managed a look of total perplexity. It really was quite funny. Silently, they picked up their bikes and rode off down the street, periodically cruising by very slowly trying to get another peek at B's mutant pinky. I'm certain they've all been traumatized. We had a good laugh at their expense. Parents, please forgive my husband. He means well. 

What really happened to the finger? It's a long and uninteresting story. Leave it to the imagination.