It's Not as Glamorous as you Think

I used to be a real girly girl.  I always had long nails and a perfect manicure, but when I started a career in wine, that all changed.  

I haven't had a nice manicure, nice hands and nails in almost 7 years.  Opening boxes, crates and doing a lot of lifting really put an end to all of that.  Sure, I could still go out and get a nice manicure, but after 10 minutes at work, my nail polish would be chipped and my nails chipped or broken wasting whatever time and cost that went into that manicure in the first place.

Then there are the cuts, scrapes and bruises.  Sometimes, I look like a cutter.  My wrists and inner forearms are constantly cut and scraped from carrying large, wood Bordeaux crates.  Cardboard boxes are notorious for paper cuts on the hands.  Two days in a row last week, I put nails from a wood crate through my palm and my thumb.  

Climbing ladders all day long leads to bruised legs or what I call mystery bruises.  I don't remember getting them, but they are there.  

Then there are the visible injuries.  Over the holidays, a colleague handed a box down to me from a higher shelf and it was upside down.  I didn't know it, so I didn't adjust my hands accordingly and the box slammed into my face giving me some swelling and a large welt that thankfully went away after 20 minutes.  Climbing ladders I have hit my head several times on a shelf, ceiling and a box on a top shelf.

Then there are the glass cuts.  Cleaning up a broken bottle with your bare hands can yes, lead to some glass lodged in the hands.  Almost had some in my eye once when a bottle exploded in my hand.

Then there are the non-visible injuries.  Want a career in wine?  You, too and look forward to aching backs, aching feet from standing long hours, injured shoulders from lifting, stubbed toes and bruised shins from carts and even a strained neck or pulled hamstrings.

Yes, a wine job is truly glamorous!

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