Did you ever cut yourself while prepping ingredients for cooking?

When I worked at a restaurant when I was 15, we had a tomato slicer where you put the tomato down and then slid it through a series of knive blades, so it would slice all the slices completely event. Basically like a mandolin but it had 5 blades instead of one.
It was, obviously, never supposed to go into the dish pit. Wash it by hand, place it back. Well, one day some dipshit decides to put it in the dish pit. In a rush to get something washed, I reach into the sink to grab something and slide my right index finger against all 5 blades. It was crazy. Would NOT stop bleeding. Had to go to the hospital and get 28 stitches, all in the final section of my index finger. You can still see five distinct scars where the blades cut me, and I have not had feeling in that finger since the day it happened.

Another time I was using a meat slicer illegally (supposed to be 18 before you use one) to slice something at a pizza place I worked at. Finished my cutting, unplugged it, took the blade guard off to clean the blade, hand slipped, big cut straight in my left palm. The entire width of my hand, straight across. No stitches that time, but it was a bloody mess and took a long time to heal.

That's about it for bad cuts. Bad burns have been much, much worse. And I still have scars all over both arms from several burns I've suffered over the years.

Fat people don't prepare food, they just chew fat.

Not using a knife, but I had a wine glass explode in my hand while washing it. I was holding it a little tight, and I forgot how utterly hot my fauscet can get (207 degrees F. last time I checked). It left a big gash in my middle finger and blood was everywhere (the sink, the counter, the wall, my face, etc.).

Fortunately, my GF (first aid certified) was able to, how do I say, stuff the flesh back into my finger and patch it up. She said I probably wouldn't be able to get stiches where it was and the doctor agreed. It healed up pretty quickly but there is a decent sized scar there.

No one loves Kyle...

Kyle's dad: Stupid, worthless, no good, goddamn, freeloading son of a bitch. Retarded, big mouth, know-it-all, asshole, jerk.
Kyle's mom: You forgot ugly, lazy and disrespectful.
Kyle's dad:Shut up bitch! Go fix me a turkey pot pie.
Kyle: No dad, what about you?
Kyle's dad: Fuck you.
Kyle: No dad, what about you?
Kyle's dad: Fuck you.
Kyle: Dad, what about you?
Kyle's dad:Fuck you!

It was a banner fuckin year at the Wilkinson house!

uh, i once cut off the tip of my thumb in front of a cooking class. i was finishing a sauce when i realized i didn't have enough butter, so i pulled a stick out of the freezer. i went to cut it, forgetting that frozen butter fractures rather than slices. boom, there it went. fished the tip off the cutting board, wrapped the thumb in a side towel with some ice and finished the class holding my left hand above my head.
the worst one i heard about though, was a co-worker who decided he needed a mandoline, even though he barely cooked. he was trying to use it the way he saw on top chef and shaved off his entire palm.
on the other hand, i once saw a test kitchen intern bandaging all of her fingers ... i asked if she'd cut herself and said "Nope, but I'm going to use a mandoline so I just do it in advance." kind of like a primitive meatcutter's glove.

Life doesn't happen in a vacuum. Be careful what you put out there, it will come back to haunt you.

Sliced tip of finger almost off once. Cleaned it well, applied steri strips, covered. Tip still turns whitish when I'm out in the cold.

I had just gotten my Shun Elite Nakiri and I think I was using it on some lettuce. I looked up to look at the tv and the knife felt wierd, as if it was stuck. I looked down again and I had cut clean through the nail of my pinky to the bone underneath. The knife was so sharp that I felt nothing, and when I pulled it out there was a single drop of blood and that was it. The pat of the nail I cut fell off and eventually grew back.

Only a few small cuts that happen every now and then. I have burned my arms with an iron a few times and still have the scars from that. This thread has also taught me that I will never buy or get near a mandolin.

Consider a knife skills class (or dvd) taught at many cooking schools. Not only do you learn how to cut things you learn how to protect yourself from cuts and accidents.

http://www.filmbaby.com/films/2065

Really, if you know how to use the equipment you're using (knife, mandolin, whatever) there is very little danger. The only time things get dangerous is usually user error, where you aren't paying attention or are half-assed trying to do something. I'm a firm believer that the only time you really cut yourself is when you are being careless, and most of the stories in this thread seem to verify that.

That is great advice PSG. I gained some better skills, years ago, but always meant to get the Pepin DVD and a 50# bag of onions and really master it.