Removing something at birth

It's a complete business to keep them clean and well tended to, everyone at least needs to see to them every once in a while to not be regarded dirty or creepy. They seem to be the perfect place to accumulate dirt in the form of a strange goo or dried up filth. Their function is questionable, some say it has something to do with nerve-endings; but that is about all there is for it. Other reasons to keep them on are from the days we still scratched each other's backs and had to build mud huts - not of this age and day. So I'd like to propose to get rid of them at an early age, because it will be less painful that way and everyone knows the younger a person is, the better wounds will heal. Of course the wounds from the procedure will be minor, less than a paper cut. And there are perfectly safe painkillers for young children, would that seem necessary. And think of all the related issues to this part of the human body that we will do away with!

But somehow we don't remove the finger-and toenails from young children... and I think if someone would actually propose it, no matter how well founded their claims, we would all deem them mad. If a fringe group would do it themselves, among themselves, they would all be arrested and their young ones placed in foster care. So why do we circumcise young boys? Is it really just because the Egyptians thought of it in a time no one recalls and we just sort of stick with it because so many other people do it too?

The parallel with toenails seemed most fitting, since there are so many things alike with them as with the foreskin (hygiene issues, potential health problems, 'nerve endings', etc.), but the same could be said for natural body hair which could be dealt with permanently at an early age, or any other part of the body we think of as unwanted and which is hardly more than an evolutionary left-over. The coccyx even, part of the central vertebral column, which seems without purpose and can cause hellish pain when it breaks. But I think the coccyx (tailbone) is less useless than nails.

My point is that, though we have been modifying the human body in terms of purposely removing or scarring it, for hygiene or, most of all, aesthetic means for ages; even before we remember; when a medical procedure which has no real medical merit is carried out, one would suspect that the person it is being done to has at least given his or her consent. Strangely, that is not the case for children. Parents, apparently, are allowed to do with their child anything that is regarded as normal by the majority. But that is no means to found a medical procedure on, let alone the legality of such procedures. Suppose we did start removing the nails of our young children, say at the age of two, the next day those children would come to school, their teachers will immediately call child protection services to call in this misdemeanor. Or for a more extreme version: what about female circumcision?

Nails, of course, are for scratching and for picking up small things. Our toenails are without purpose completely, a left-over from the days we had claws. The suggestion that they would protect the nerve-endings is weak, and preposterous when this argument is used to defend the removal of the foreskin. The important nerve-endings of the fingers are on the side opposite to the nails... and those nerves that do lie underneath the nails, would be sufficiently protected by the regular skin as it would by that hard bit that grows over it.

If an adult would have his nails removed permanently, no one would make a fuss and we would all giggle and get on with our lives. The same would go for an adult who has his earlobes cut off, his tailbone removed, a couple of ribs removed or his foreskin cut off. The point where we would take a stand against such actions, is when they are done to people who can't give consent. And that is all there is to it. There is no argument which would stand up in court that would allow parents to cut off bits of skin from their young boy's penises, without it being a medical issue (sometimes the foreskin is too tight, causing pain during erection or even problems when urinating). Even if it were a useless part of the body.
On a lighter note, I am still doing the scoutmaster thing regardless of saying I would quit when I would not have two full-time scoutsleaders on my side by Christmas. I have one new scoutsleader who (besides being quite handsome) is becoming a level 4 nurse (basic nurse) and has been a scout before. We both decided we weren't going to quit, the reason seems to be that we would find it a shame to have to stop over something like having no leaders. Fortunately, I'm seeing a new potential leader tonight, she (it's a female) has been a scout before as well and I've been in the same group as she was for several years. If she joins our team (and I mean the scoutsteam) we'll be good for the coming year.

I'm also purchasing a new knife. As you may recall the last one I had was stolen along with my wallet and mobile phone early in the summer holiday of last year. This knife has been on my wish-list for quite some time (even before the robbery) and I feel very happy about finally getting it. It's a sophisticated outdoor knife, of a superior steel quality. It is only just legal (2mm longer and it wouldn't be) but the knife is obviously not meant as a weapon so I should be safe. Besides, it's not something I would carry around on a daily basis.

The outdoorsman by ColdSteel.

And I'd like to share the below video with you. It's an old favourite.