I'm with the band-aid man

I sometimes find it surprising how often I have to deal with blood. I know I shouldn't, I do remember how much I skinned my knees and cut myself as a kid. I was either bleeding or scabby for most of my childhood it seems. A quick check at the soccer games last weekend revealed that a fair number of the 5-12 year olds running around were too. So if everyone gets bloody now and again, why am I frequently the only one with a band-aid?
When my kids were little I started carrying bandaids in my wallet. There are a lot of shapes and sizes of bandaids and it was hard to pick what was best to carry. So, being the nerd that I am, I researched it. I came across an article that claimed that knuckle bandages were by far the best. They backed it up with pictures of them on knuckles, finger tips, elbows, knees, heels, and a forehead. Seemingly anyplace you could get a cut, you could patch it up with a knuckle bandage. Knuckle bandages are sort of hard to come by though. If you buy a mixed box of bandaids, you get maybe two in a box. I couldn't find them locally so I ended up buying them in boxes of 100 from Amazon.com. I'm on my second box now. I've patched up my own kids plenty of times. I've also patched up other kids elbows and knees as nobody ever seems to have a way to stop the bleeding during a soccer game. I've given them to my wife and daughter when a pair of very lovely but uncomfortable shoes rubs a heel raw. I gave one to a very grateful woman who had stubbed her toe getting out of an elevator at the museum. She was standing there bleeding, not too much, but enough that she thought her museum trip was over. You can't just go walking around leaving a trail of blood after all. I handed her a knuckle bandage and when I saw her later in the day she was quite grateful that her day had been salvaged. These suckers are useful.
Not that I think of myself as some kind of hero here. We're just talking bandaids after all. These are for very minor wounds that are at the most an inconvenience. I do have red cross first aid and CPR training, though I should get a refresher course when the kids are all in school. Everyone with kids should really have that training, just in case. I've never had to use any of that training though, except on myself, but that's a whole other story. Actually a couple of stories. God, that sounds bad.
For minor injuries, it really pays to have a couple of band-aids shoved in your wallet. It's simple and cheap and provides a pretty incredible amount of convenience and comfort for those that need them.