12/2 TAR 21 Show Discussion **West Coast Spoilers**

[NCLurker]

Four years ago I went down on the ice and landed on my finger. It turned black and blue, swelled to the size of a cuban cigar, and I was unable to bend it for the rest of the winter. In fact, I still can't bend it fully to this day. And I didn't make any more noise than a grunt when I hit the ground, and no further complaint. So yes, I think that Lexi was a big, whiny, drama-queenish baby about the whole thing.

I get your point, I actually broke the head off of both sides of the bone of the middle knuckle of my middle finger, which is actually considered a pretty serious break! It hurt like heck and I thought I was going to throw up and/or pass out and all I said was "I think my finger's broken. I think I'm going to throw up." Got to spend the next 8 weeks flipping everyone off without trying. However, I have also learned that all people have different reactions and pain tolerance levels. I can't know how bad she was hurting. While I have never been one to be overly dramatic I recognize that whether I think others react rightly, we are all different and I make allowances for that in instances like this. It cost me nothing to make that allowance.

[Rattus]

However, I have also learned that all people have different reactions and pain tolerance levels. I can't know how bad she was hurting. While I have never been one to be overly dramatic I recognize that whether I think others react rightly, we are all different and I make allowances for that in instances like this. It cost me nothing to make that allowance.

People do indeed have different reactions, and people have different reactions to other people's reactions. I feel pain. I'm feeling a whole lot of extreme pain right now because of a torn achilles tendon and some wicked bursitis in my knees. However, it was two months before anyone at work knew about the tendon and that was only because I'm having trouble getting the splint into my boot. And so my reaction to snivellers tends to not be "eh".

[Arielflies]

Please keep the thread on track for discussion of the show and its participants.

[redsox girl]

Regarding Lexi's finger.....I really hope that she did have medical take a look. It looked as if she may have cut either around or under her fingernail when she slammed into that thing, either of which would hurt like heck and definitely needed to be disinfected. While I too thought she was a bit over the top, she may have been just trying to get it together and that's her coping mechanism. I can allow her that. She did get it together and finish the task.

I think you make an excellent point. We all cope with stress differently and the way we do it shouldn't be judged as a weakness simply because its not how we chose to cope. Its not only pain after all, but the stress they are under. It`s like The Beekmans, yes the guy sat down in the middle of the tennis task and talked about the pain nd maybe not being able to complete the task and that was translated by some as a weakness. He and Lexi were working through their stress and pain in a way which best suited their individual way to cope and both wound up being successful at their given tasks. You really hit the nail on the head by stating these are coping mechanisms rather than weaknesses and helped me view the situation differently. It certainly does not mean someone is less capable or has a lower tolerance for pain. Hey, if you can complete a task with a busted up finger or hopping around on a twisted ankle then you have earned your AR bones.

[jadewarlock]

In the case of those injured in these tasks and the like and competing, I feel that all of them are man (and woman) enough to take the injury, complain and then when fixed go and finish the task. Pain, no matter how large or small, makes even some of the strongest men quit. I respect the fact that they're all human, are going to complain but are strong to finish the challenge (though I think in Lexi's case she'd been better off as the tail to begin with - the front would be unwieldy anyway so Trey would've been better steering it around.

BTW - I loved the fact they used the initial capes for the bull fights and not the red ones they use toward the end of a real fight. They use pinkish ones first then the red ones.

[Tilden]

I think it just depends on the injury. In some cases, trying to man/woman up might be dangerous and cause an injury to become more serious. However, I also suspect they probably do have some rules in place to handle that--e.g. insisting that if someone's injury causes a loss of consciousness that he/she is pulled from the competition until cleared by a doctor. I'm sure neither the show nor the network wants to leave themselves in the position of being sued and/or being the subject of really terrible publicity if someone were to end up seriously injured because he/she was not tended to ASAP.

And there are also some injuries that are really hard to work through. If you dislocate a shoulder, for instance, and do it badly enough, your arm's basically not going to work again until the shoulder is popped back into place. Period. Even if you could stand the pain, the numbness is going to make the arm/hand about as useful as a dead trout in any task that might be facing the racers.

[wannasee]

Four years ago I went down on the ice and landed on my finger. It turned black and blue, swelled to the size of a cuban cigar, and I was unable to bend it for the rest of the winter. In fact, I still can't bend it fully to this day. And I didn't make any more noise than a grunt when I hit the ground, and no further complaint. So yes, I think that Lexi was a big, whiny, drama-queenish baby about the whole thing.

Well, from what I've seen, I would never think you would be whiny about such a thing (and to be fair, I agreed Lexie was annoying). I OTOH was momentarily struck with what may have appeared a severe case of Tourette's. Just pointing out, it's a pretty wicked type of pain. I think the worst part for me, and maybe why I'm willing to give her a break, is how she was blind and completely reliant on Trey - kinda like trying to navigate without lights and stubbing your toe on something. Just makes it even more jarring. As others said, at least she got it together and completed the task, although I thought it was kinda funny how she insisted on being the head!

[Fanny Mare]

Well, from what I've seen, I would never think you would be whiny about such a thing (and to be fair, I agreed Lexie was annoying). I OTOH was momentarily struck with what may have appeared a severe case of Tourette's. Just pointing out, it's a pretty wicked type of pain. I think the worst part for me, and maybe why I'm willing to give her a break, is how she was blind and completely reliant on Trey - kinda like trying to navigate without lights and stubbing your toe on something. Just makes it even more jarring. As others said, at least she got it together and completed the task, although I thought it was kinda funny how she insisted on being the head!

I would rather be the head than the @ss

[pikachu]

The Twinnies had to skip the bull challenge because they're both asses. Hahahaha!

[sweetpea]

I think Lexie's reaction came from not being able to see where she was going, so when they crashed quite heavily into that board, and if I remember she fell and he fell kind of on top of her, it came out of nowhere for her because she couldn't see a thing. So the suddenness of the impact, combined with the injury to her finger which probably did hurt like heck, released the emotion. I'm a crier, so I give her a pass on that one. What I was impressed with (and I'm not a huge Trey/Lexie fan) was that they got it together, changed positions, and finished the task.

Remember also, killer fatigue sets in around this point in the race.