I am so traumatised.

I was washing vegetables for dinner today when I saw some green goo on a vegetable leaf. So I washed it off.

Then I proceeded to peel off more leaves, and along the way I saw a whole lot more green goo, which I sort of gave up on washing off individually. So I decided to soak the leaves in water for a while instead, then wash all the green goo off once and for all.

But just as I got to the middle of the stalk (because it's the sort of vegetable which you have to peel all the leaves off of, then throw the hard core away), I suddenly touched something that felt slightly squishy. 'That's odd,' I thought. 'Vegetables aren't normally squishy.' So I looked down.

...and found a green caterpillar staring back at me, perched atop the third joint of my ring finger.

I don't normally scream, but I kinda squealed a little this time and flung the caterpillar into the sink. I mean, it's not the first time I've come face to face with worms in my vegetables. It was just the ickiness of realising that the green goo I'd been washing off with my bare hands was really caterpillar poo. Y'know, like in those mystery novels where you follow the trail of what you thought was red paint to the scene of crime, and in the denouement everyone suddenly realises that it was REALLY BLOOD AND THAT THERE WAS A DEAD BODY AT THE END OF IT ALL.

Urgh. I'm going to wear gloves in the kitchen next time. First the peeling fingertips (wonder how much SLS UIC puts in its detergent) and now caterpillars on fingers. Disgusting.