X'Treme Nailz Etiquette

by Edith Graham

We go about our days as naturally as anyone else in this community. Schedules, jobs, deadlines, and dreams invade our thoughts and actions during the day like anyone else. There are some visual differences, unorthodox methods, and creative thinking that successfully concludes our days.

We do not question one's curiosity or occasional gawking as we go about our lives, although we often forget why. Our nails are as natural for us as their choice of clothing, shoes, and hair. A simple task seems impossible to others like opening doors, which is a twist of the wrist with your nails out of the way. Elongated handles are as simple a sliding our fingers in to flip up the handle, letting it down while still holding it so it does not rip off our nails.

We accept the stares and unusual comments and mocking’s we receive while in public, expected to be a spectacle as we lead our daily lives. We utilize items in ways others do not think to do.

much more than other's attention. Styling hair and applying make-up is a matter of which handle, or size is best to utilize. Tweezers for lashes and brushes for application, nails our length do not just pop up.

I pick up babies and place them securely while knowing the safest way to turn the wrist while securing the child. Most kids love assisting with anything you do around them instinctively because they lovingly protect you out of fascination.

We have accommodating tools for chores around the home, just as anyone would dealing with a mobility issue. Handles are always what makes for easier access. What most don't understand is our nails themselves are tools. Your equilibrium is off if one gets broken. What we buy and the uses they have for us comes with ingenuity.

Tweezers are our friends. They are used to pull buttons through shirts, hang earrings and retrieve debit cards from discriminating machines while onlookers prepare to make rude comments for us wasting their time. Tongs of all shapes and sizes are kept in our purses to grab items quickly from tight places and crevices. I use an unbreakable spatula to tuck the covers around the mattress and stretch the fitted sheet to the corners of the bed.

Spare credit cards are kept within reach as a tool. When we drop coins or something flat, we use them to lift a corner so we may pick them up.

Despite the epic shortage of toilet paper in the early days of the pandemic, we are guilty of using extra toilet paper. The continuing effort to be cleaner than most who concern themselves with our hygiene while more prone to baby wipes aware of how to place them properly for the best effectiveness.

We use sponges, brushes, and a never-ending selection of items for bathing, those without long nails tend to forget exist when judging our ability to bathe properly. No shortage of wash clothes, thick and thin. We clean our noses with tissue wrapped around a nail tip and or Q-tips like in our ears as we hope the rest of society would. We use knives and forks, spoons, and cups, all learning to adapt as our nails grow longer in a natural fashion. Some use the pads on the fingertips to touch surfaces and used more due to the lengths.

Our knuckles answer phones and push buttons if a stylus isn't near. I type with pencil erasers at a speed that can make you dizzy and most of us can contort our hands to accommodate any situation.

Driving is a matter of positioning and choosing the vehicle that gives us ample space where necessary. We pay attention to the design of door handles. The choices are made with the same considerations as anyone else to suit their individual needs.

I do not touch meat and use two-pronged forks, held in positions I require to cut just like anyone else would, without as many germs. People are in awe when I cut up a chicken or slice the ribs or roast. I make some leery about my expertise with knives since I chop veggies like a regular chef despite the nail length.

I love to cook despite looking inept in the kitchen. Ground meats get stirred with utensils, a preference I have always had, while patties and meatballs are made in my palms after a spray of Pam to prevent sticking. Meatloaves are rolled and shaped perfectly with a spatula before baking.

Unlike most who critique us, I use bleach in my dishwater. While cutting meats, I have a giant bowl on the side to dip my nails if they make contact to prevent contamination. We use brushes of varied sizes to scrub underneath. Many of us are germaphobes questioning the hygiene of those that call us nasty.

I speak up when seated in tight inadequate spaces in restaurants.

We expect situations created to make a spectacle of us for amusement or entertainment. Most of us do not mind letting you know if it appears your actions are intentional, no matter the situation. Discrimination and prejudice are rampant, and you never know how they might occur.