Betting Fingers

If the sailor had lost the bet in “Man From The South,” the man would have cut off the sailor’s little finger on his left hand.  This would affect the sailors ability to perform his daily occupations seeing as the little finger provides a lot of grip and the sailor would have to learn how to do activities again without his little finger.  One activity that would affect his ability to perform his sailor duties would be to tie a line to the dock as his crew moors their boat.  This occupation would be affected because his grip on the rope he is holding would not be as strong as it was before.  Tying a boat to a dock is a very quick act and if he did not have the grip of his left hand or was not comfortable this could negatively affect his performance.  He could modify this by relearning how to tie knots and becoming comfortable with a different grip.  He could also use a rope that already has a loop in it when he goes to put the rope on the dock hook.   

Outcomes that could be addressed would be strengthening his other fingers to have a stronger grip so they could compensate for his lost pinky.  He could also learn how to use adapted ropes on the boat so he can continue his daily duties of being a solider.

At the end of the story, the reader learns that the man’s wife only has a finger and thumb.  This would greatly affect her ability to carry out many of her occupations, especially her activities of daily living and instrumental activities of daily living.  This would affect her hand dexterity and her ability to drive her Cadillac.  It would also make it harder for her to do things such as cook meals or do daily chores like folding laundry.  The wife could regain independence by have adaptive driving equipment in her car.  She could have modified hand controls installed so she would not lose her independence and ability to drive her car.