After recovering from the loss of his left arm, Steve sought revenge on the man who took the arm from him. As he made his way down Gray Boulevard, an older gentleman man in a brown suit confronted him. “Who or what do you seek, sir? You are walking much faster than I should like you to,” he said, as he straightened his thin, black-framed glasses. “Where is your left arm, by the way? I hope that you aren’t going after the man who did this. Revenge never the answer. Besides, you were probably right handed anyway, my boy.” The man walked away. Steve questioned his ability to carry out his planned revenge and went home.

On her twentieth birthday, Judith received, among other gifts, an Instant Designer Press-On Nail Kit. By her twenty-third birthday, the kit remained untouched, still inside the plastic wrap it originally came with. Shortly after this birthday, she was courted by a young man who claimed to be the prince of a small country. Flattered by his advances and intimidated by his status, Judith decided to make acceptable fingernails for herself (she had been an ardent nail biter since childhood.) While attempting the glue the acrylic nail to her right ring finger she slipped, squirting glue into her left eye. Unable to be seen with a woman who had a permanently glued left eye, the prince relented his advances and returned home to his small country.

After a night of drinking alone in his apartment, David awoke to the sound of hammering next door. It was his mother, who had decided to live in the apartment next to her son to make up for the time she had spent in the circus during his childhood. David slowly rose from bed, walked to the kitchen, picked up a knife, and cut off his hand from the wrist down. “Did you hear that mom? I cut off my hand, and I’ll cut something else off if you don’t leave,” he yelled. “How would I be able to hear you cut off your hand if I am hanging a photo?” replied his mother, calmly. David cut off the rest of his arm, receiving the same response from his mother. As his mother continued to hang photographs on her new living room wall, David continued severing parts of his body until only a head and torso remained. He subsequently joined the circus as a human punching bag named ‘Pip’ and made a modest fortune.

As a young adult, Thomas was involved in an accident with a concrete mixer destroying his nose, mouth and penis. Doctors were able to fashion a new penis from skin taken from his thigh, and a new nose and mouth were created from scratch. One day while riding a bus, he took his nose off and set it on the empty seat next to him. Being the first time he had taken the nose off in public, he left it on the seat as he reached his stop. Realizing his mistake, he immediately ran home, jumped in his spouse’s car, and drove toward the bus. Thinking that the car had been stolen, his wife phoned the police. After retrieving the nose, Thomas returned home to find three police cars in his driveway. The instant Thomas exited the vehicle, he was tackled by waiting officers, completely destroying his nose and mouth. Although slightly scraped, his fake penis survived the entire ordeal.