On The Job Hazards

You would normally think writing a tame job, where you can't possibly get hurt, right? Well, recently, I realized that isn't quite true. There are plenty of hazards. They're just easily overlooked.

Papercut - Doesn't happen too often in normal life, but a writer works with paper quite a bit. I've gotten paper cut plenty of times, the worst one being last Thursday. I was helping fold newsletters for Jodi Thomas's fan club and got a wicked cut on my palm near my thumb. It was sore for a couple days afterward. I think I should get worker's comp. for that one.

Ink poisoning - Ever accidently stabbed yourself with a pen? I have. It hurts! And something like that in excess can lead to ink poisoning. Fortunately, I've never experienced the actual poisoning myself.

Lead (graphite?) poisoning - Okay, so pencils, especially mechanical pencils, don't have lead anymore. So you can't technically get lead poisoning. But I've been in a situation where I've been stabbed with a mechanical pencil and had about a centimeter of graphite break off under my skin. That stings like nobody's business! I had to use a needle to get it back out.

Eye sight loss - Rereading those edits over and over takes a real toll on your eyes. I've had to get glasses recently due to this.

Seizure - Yeah, this can really happen. On some videogames, they've had to start adding a warning that brightly flickering lights can cause seizures in some people and for users to take caution. The same can be said of using the computer in extreme excess (especially if you keep flipping over to Facebook because you don't want to work, like I do).

So now you know that writing isn't as tame a sport as many think. But the extremity of the adventure is well worth the danger.