My jaw popped out of its socket a few nights ago, and it has yet to go back to its proper place. When I was a teenager my jaw would pop out all the time, usually when I was brushing my teeth, but then it would go back in a minute or two later. Well, it's been three days, and my jaw is still out for the count. It's one of those things where you don't realize how important its proper function is in your life until it's broken.
I have never broken a bone in my life, but I have sprained an ankle and had a scratched eye once when I was little. Our lovely pet rabbit Smoky decided he didn't want to be held anymore and leaped out of my arms in a hurry. Animals do that sometimes--they flail, with no regard for what their limbs may hit (much like a screaming toddler...). I was a pretty small kid, and the rabbit had to be at least fifteen pounds.
The end result: I had to take a trip to the emergency room and have doctors examine my eye. They all said I was very lucky my head turned at the last minute, or I could very well have been blind in that eye. As it was, I had to use eye drops for several weeks until the scratch on my sclera healed. I think I had to wear an eye patch too, but I can't remember for sure.
At any rate, being unable to use a limb or body part for any amount of time when you're used to using it is hard. With my dislocated jaw, I can't eat a lot of foods--anything that requires the incisors to line up to take a bite, and anything hard like carrots or fresh apples is out of the question. Then, since my molars don't line up, it takes extra long to mash up any other food like bread or cereal, and it tastes gross from being in my mouth extra long.
It's the same sensation when us glasses-wearing folk misplace our glasses for any amount of time. You are blind and pretty much helpless, and you can't do anything else until those glasses are found. I wish I had better vision, but I am at least grateful to those minds who contributed to the modern eyeglasses design.
Having a car break down is also very inconvenient. It requires a mental shift as you have to figure out a new way around town while the car is in the shop. Whereas before bus schedules didn't matter, now you have to have the correct change for bus fare, make sure the weather is decent or bring an umbrella for walking to and from the stop, and account for the extra weight you have to lug around if you made that bus trip a shopping trip as well. Life is just all around harder without proper functioning cars or bodies.
Then again, it's only harder because we had the luxury in the first place. Lots of people don't have cars, in foreign countries, and many people in the world are permanently disfigured. For them, what we consider an inconvenience is a way of life. We find it bothersome if we have to make an extra trip to the grocery store for milk, maybe 20 minutes out of our day; their trip to market might take an entire day or two.
So while my jaw is unhinged, I at least have some foods I can still eat. Ice cream is plenty soft :)
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