the importance of being tidy

Earlier this summer I finally started sewing the clasp back on to a pair of dress pants. I was interrupted, so I set the pants in the floor with the needle stuck in it. There it stayed. I worried somewhat about the cats stepping on the needle but not myself, because I knew it was there. And then the inevitable occurred: last night I stepped on the needle and jammed it into my foot. The eye went in first, which means the thread also went in. It didn't hurt very much--I seem to have missed the nerves and blood vessels. The doctor today said he could see little threads in the wound. So I'm on antibiotics and I got a tetanus shot.

I started reading Mrs. Beeton's Guide to Household Management (a Victorian text) last week, and she stresses the importance of being tidy. Her advice is as apt today as it was 150 years ago.