People Just Bite
In the midst of sensationalist reports from all quarters, this article points out that humans biting each other, and even biting off each other's body parts, is rather common. It's not new and it need not involve drugs. Obviously the case of Rudy Eugene in Miami is gorier than most; and it's disturbing that Eugene seemingly attacked with no provocation and no concern for his own safety. It would be nice if we could dismiss such behavior as absolutely outside human norms, as zombie-like. . . but it wouldn't be true.
* In March, one man bit off part of another man's ear in Springfield, Mass., after a youth basketball game. The Republican report did not indicate any drugs were involved.
* A fight over what was on television resulted in one man biting off another's ear at a diner in Staten Island last week, Staten Island Advance reported. There was no indication drugs were involved.
* According to WISH, an Indiana man's ear was bitten off in a 2009 road rage incident. Drug use was not to blame.
* An LA Times article describes a highly publicized finger-tip biting incident in 2009, resulting from anger over healthcare reform, not drugs.
* Internet reports reveal more than a few fights recent and dated- some involving alcohol, some not- in which participants' tongues and testicles were bitten off.
My ex got in a fight once, and during the course of the fight, he cut his knuckles on the guys teeth. Within 3 hours his hand had swollen to twice its normal size and was a particularly angry shade of red with streaks extending up his arm. At the er, the doctor who examined him told him if he had waited another 3 hours to come in, he would have probably lost his hand. As it was he had to spend a night in the hospital on IV antibiotics and then undergo a week of whirlpool treatments to rid himself of the infection. The human mouth is full of bacteria, I think I would rather suffer and animal bite. (Dee)
ReplyDelete*AN animal bite* (Note to self, don't try to type until the coffee kicks in.) (Dee)
ReplyDeleteOur immune systems must be amazing, to allow us to survive with such filthy mouths.
ReplyDelete@Dee, that's known as a clenched fist injury and is even more dangerous than an actual bite because there's often damage to tendons... he was indeed lucky not to lose the hand or at least use of it.
ReplyDeleteMakes me feel a little guilty about biting my dentists' fingers when I was a kid.
Nah, not really.