Science of Sharp

@werehatrack I’ve also examined high-quality vs cheap, and the difference is obvious. Not that anyone who uses them regularly wouldn’t already know this.

@werehatrack
You do know they were resharpened, right?

@chienfou I remember the days when hypodermics were glass, and both the syringe and the needle would get autoclaved and reused. And I very clearly recall just how fucking blunt those goddamn needles were, and how excruciating it was to get an injection from one, TYVM. (Such an injection is among the extremely small number of clear - and traumatic as fuck - memories I have from when I was about three.)

@chienfou @werehatrack I’m trying to remember the story of a nurse or some other medical volunteer (?) that used to travel around rural China (?) to administer vaccines or something.

The point (no pun intended) of the story was that they didn’t think about how much it hurt until they actually tried it on themselves once. The adults (miners?) didn’t complain, because they knew it was needed and just put up with it. But the children didn’t understand, and only knew that it hurt. Once they (whoever was relating the story) realized how much it hurt, they tried to make sure their needles were always sharp, and they showed a lot more compassion to the children. (Or maybe the specific problem was that the sloppy sharpening process left barbs that hurt more, so the solution was more careful sharpening?)

In any case, that story was the first time I’d heard about needles getting dull from being used in soft human arms.

And now that I’ve posted this to the internet, someone can correct all the details I got wrong. And maybe remind me of where I heard/read the story.

@shahnm I think it’s keen! @blaineg is pretty sharp-witted, you know.

@blaineg @Kyeh @shahnm And likely wants to stick it to you.

@phr I’ve been there a few times, but I’m kind of scared of getting sucked down that rabbit hole.