Am I being overly sensitive when I notice that the Fudge Shoppe cookie forman is the only elf of color? or is that just ironic?

I have never noticed the Elf hierarchy. Is he subordinate to the white elves, or are they subordinate to him?

Oh, now I know what my worst pain was, worse than anything gastro or reproductive because I thought it was going to last forever -- the sprained rib.

Showering made me want to cry. I could wiggle my toes without increasing the pain, but that was about it. It still hurts a little, but it's completely ignorable, in comparison.

My worst pain, that I can think of offhand anyway, was when I had an infected tooth and, with the masses of painkillers I'd taken not having any noticable impact, I got the notion to put a heat pad up against my cheek. Something about the heat just made the pain spiral until I was curled up in a little ball.

Mostly I've been lucky, I guess.

When I went to get my wisdom teeth out my mom sent me on my way with the ever-helpful "rather go through childbirth again" comment, but I don't remember it being all that bad.

Mine is a toss up. It was either the accident or the tooth infection. The accident because it hurt so much I couldn't sleep. Which just sucks. The tooth infection might win, however, because of the added mental discomfort of worrying my throat was going to swell shut and cause my death while sleeping.

the sprained rib.

You just reminded me that my dad is an insano adrenaline junkie. When he broke his ribs in a fall in a cave, he kept on with the training mission. And climbed out.

Then slept on the ground and drove the 200 miles back the next day.

He had to sleep upright for about a month after that, though. And passed out a few times when he coughed or sneezed without bracing.

Most painful was having my sinus cavity packed due to a burst artery inside. I only know that was most painful because the little card that describes the memory in my mind says, "For your protection, the details of this experience have been wiped. There were drugs and you nearly kicked a nurse in the gut to stop her doing what she was doing, and it was unpleasant. Leave it there."

And Hubby wasn't even officially Hubby yet and stood by me through the whole mess, so I decided he was a keeper.

I had growing pains in my legs when I was a kid. Bones growing too fast for the muscle, or something, I think. I couldn't walk properly for a couple of months and had to give up gymnastics. I don't really remember the pain, but I still sort of measure everything painful against it to this day. The inner-ear abcess while flying from Malaysia to Ireland wasn't fun either.

I've never had tooth unpleasantness, but I'm guessing I don't want to. A lot.

Randomly (via IMDB):

Despite the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act 15 years ago, actors with disabilities continue to be routinely passed over for employment by TV and film producers, according to a study released Tuesday by the Screen Actors Guild. At a news conference Robert David Hall, chairman of SAG's National Performers with Disabilities Committee, said that the study, titled "The Employment of Performers With Disabilities in the Entertainment Industry," represented "the first real documentation of what performers with disabilities and their advocates have long suspected: We have far to go to achieve true equality of opportunity. ... The images we see and the stories we tell say a lot about our society. We are part of the story." He pointed out that while persons with a physical or mental disability comprise 20 percent of the population, less than 2 percent of TV show characters exhibit a disability and only one-half of 1 percent are hired in speaking roles. Hall himself, who plays the coroner on CBS's CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and who lost his legs following a car accident, said that he was "keenly aware" that he is an exception.

I had no idea the number was as high as 20%, but I'm not sure of the boundaries of the definition, and I do wonder what the discrepancy is between the number of characters exhibiting a disability and the number of actors with disabilities playing them.

I have never noticed the Elf hierarchy. Is he subordinate to the white elves, or are they subordinate to him?

well, I dont' know. He seems to be in a leadership position (i.e. the foreman), but why is he the Fudge Shoppe Cookie foreman. Why can't he be the Vienna Fingers foreman or something.

I had no idea the number was as high as 20%, but I'm not sure of the boundaries of the definition, and I do wonder what the discrepancy is between the number of characters exhibiting a disability and the number of actors with disabilities playing them.

I would suspect a large portion of that is depression, if we're including mental disability. I'd submit there are lots of depressed actors, and some depressed characters, although god help us if it ever reaches double digits. I've seen me depressed, I would hate to see it on tv.