There are few advantages to breaking a bone. There are the screams of pain, the mind-numbing agony, the immobilization for weeks on end, insistent itching underneath the cast — in general, it’s just a downer.
If there’s any compensation for a compound fracture, other than getting out of dish duty and a little bit of extra sympathy from loved ones and complete strangers, it offers a great opportunity to make creative statements. The old-fashioned plaster casts were more friendly to graffiti, but even with the more modern ones, people always find a way to personalize them with stickers, paint, markers, or whatever is handy.
Right now, you can see some great examples of customized medical art on VCA San Francisco Veterinary Specialists’s Facebook page. You still have roughly 24 hours to vote for which one you like best, thanks to the 21st-century ritual of the Facebook “Like.”
There are eight pictures of vet wrap art on the page, and it’s really hard to pick one that stands out. One thing’s clear: The brightness, creativity, and humor of all eight shows how an otherwise miserable experience can be made just a little bit more bearable.
As an aging comics geek, I kind of favor wrap number seven, with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. This was kind of a revelation to me. Although I was a fan when they were an underground hit in 1985, by the late 1990s, the franchise had become so overexposed and infantilized that I found myself wanting to grab a TARDIS, travel back to 1984, and strand Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird on an island far away from any writing or drawing utensils. I suppose time and middle age will make all things new again.
Memories and media criticism aside, though, all the wraps are pretty fabulous. Maybe not worth breaking a limb over, but they show a lot of care and thought, and I hope that the next time I suffer a massive physical trauma, I can have it decorated as nicely as this. The pink flamingo on a purple background (No. 2), the mermaid (No. 5), and the cat in the bikini (No. 1) are also particularly eye-catching.
Whichever one you like, though, you can do some good by visiting the site and voting. In addition to showing off some cool medical art, SFVS will make a donation to San Francisco Aid for Animals in the name of the contest winner. Aid for Animals gives grants to pet owners who can’t afford treatment for their pets, definitely a much-needed service.
As of this writing, here are the votes for each picture:
- Bikini Cat: 25
- Flamingo: 13
- Outer Space: 0
- Cherry: 2
- Mermaid: 7
- Tiger: 7
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: 13
- At the Beach: 3
Which is your favorite? Get over and vote!
Via Facebook
Check out more cuteness on Dogster:
