Should wristwatches be banned on the dancefloor?

[Beowulf]

I scalped a woman once by somehow wrapping her hair round the cuff button in my shirt. I put my hand far enough above her head but somehow it still got tangled.

And I've just found out tonight that this poor woman is a closet forumite

A pleasure to dance with you tonight.. and so glad my watch didn't pluck your hair out this time

[Aurion]

...
Hopefully people will discover that their watches/rings/platemail armour gets in the way and eventually chose to be more practical.
...

From all the pictorial evidance, female platemail armour doesn't get in the way of much...
(as for its practicality thats a different story!)

[dep]

I take off my watch before I start dancing, I don't wear any accessories and generally keep my nails short.
I do wish my female partners would do likewise.
Eg. no long earrings, no rings of any kind, no bracelets.
Any bits and pieces although very nice to look at, do occasionally get in the road.

We are there to enjoy the dancing.

[killingtime]

From all the pictorial evidance, female platemail armour doesn't get in the way of much...

I don't think pictures found in D&D should be used as historic fact .

[gebandemuishond]

I don't think pictures found in D&D should be used as historic fact .

You mean the Elves of Nagaroth didn't use to wear silver belt buckles? Then how will we know the historical basis for the Dwarves of Trollsberg's Dragon Armour?!

Dan

[JiveLad]

I take off my watch before I start dancing, I don't wear any accessories and generally keep my nails short.
I do wish my female partners would do likewise.
Eg. no long earrings, no rings of any kind, no bracelets.
Any bits and pieces although very nice to look at, do occasionally get in the road.

We are there to enjoy the dancing.

Yeah - it's the huge menacing rings on the right hand that some women wear which is a pain. I mentioned it to a woman who had a a vicious looking piece on - and she said "ah - but it will be a good test of dancing fingertip to fingertip". Point well made - but she took my advice and the knuckle duster came off.

[killingtime]

You mean the Elves of Nagaroth didn't use to wear silver belt buckles? Then how will we know the historical basis for the Dwarves of Trollsberg's Dragon Armour?!

Oh no, all that stuff was correctly researched, just like the extensive research done on THAC0 numbers.

[dep]

Yeah - it's the huge menacing rings on the right hand that some women wear which is a pain. I mentioned it to a woman who had a a vicious looking piece on - and she said "ah - but it will be a good test of dancing fingertip to fingertip". Point well made - but she took my advice and the knuckle duster came off.

it's not the finger tip test that is relevant here.

Any move that requires an elbow past forearm to hand touch to indicate which hand is to be taken, gets caught on and/or passes over hand/wrist accessories.
Similarly a slide, along an arm type move, is ruined by any unnatural bumps along the way.
I have bony elbows and I'm conscious that the protuberance catches in some slide moves, but no cosmetic surgery for me.

[Chef]

Yeah - it's the huge menacing rings on the right hand that some women wear which is a pain. I mentioned it to a woman who had a a vicious looking piece on - and she said "ah - but it will be a good test of dancing fingertip to fingertip". Point well made - but she took my advice and the knuckle duster came off.

Isn't it interesting how the women get to carry all the weaponry?

In this fingertip dancing test if the guy makes a mistake he gets cut. If the woman makes a mistake the guy gets cut.

The least we should do is to equip ourselves with matching weaponry matching the women ring for ring, bracelet for bracelet. That sounds fair doesn't it?

OK funny stuff aside. There is absolutely no reason to need a wristwatch, mobile phone, keys on a dance floor. Leave them in a bag somewhere. If the venue is that dodgy that you fear for their safety put them in a cash box and padlock it to a radiator.

Sharp rings and bangles are adornments. Your life will not end if you take them off when dancing but it may save cut or broken fingers (yes I have seen both happen). If you really can't or won't take off a ring for sentimental reasons then put tape over it so that it doesn't cut your partner.

As for organisers actually banning these things - well that is up to them but I doubt it will happen. In the meantime you can take personal responsibility for your own safety and do a risk assement when you are asked to dance by people with sharp rings, watches etc. You can then either ask them to remove the items or just decline the invite to dance with them. We have a culture of not refusing a dance unless having a good reason. Not wanting to be injured by your partner is a good reason IMO.

[dep]

In the meantime you can take personal responsibility for your own safety and do a risk assessment when you are asked to dance by people with sharp rings, watches etc. You can then either ask them to remove the items or just decline the invite to dance with them.

There's a solution.
Ask her to dance and when you see the adornments, change your mind letting her know you disapprove of the weapons.

It's not just the male that could get injured. Have you caught the inside of a ring yet? It digs into the back of her finger and may leave a bruise.

Could I forgive myself if I tore a partner's earlobe? I will certainly never forget the nose I broke.

[Chef]

There's a solution.
Ask her to dance and when you see the adornments, change your mind letting her know you disapprove of the weapons..

In general if I see lots of rings and/or bracelets on a follower she immediately goes on my avoid list. There are many women to dance with so I will dance with the ones that are not armed first. If one of these ladies asks me to dance with her I will ask her to remove the sharp objects first and if she refuses then I decline to dance with her. This may sound very rude and hardcore but I have had way too much flesh torn from my hands over the years in this way to conteplate any other course of action. I have had a few near misses with my fingers being caught in bangles and seen one guys finger broken and bent at an unnatural right angle. For me this is too high a price to pay for being accomodating. It is also quite a shame to end up leaving a trail of blood from your cut hand around the waist of some very nice frocks.

It's not just the male that could get injured. Have you caught the inside of a ring yet? It digs into the back of her finger and may leave a bruise..

Indeed not. My partner has had bruises on her hip from being led into a lean to find the guys keys or mobile phone have gotten there first. She has also had both her eyebrows and eyelashes (two seperate incidents) extensively torn out by the wristband of a guys watch. Women get hurt by men as well on the dance floor.

Could I forgive myself if I tore a partner's earlobe? I will certainly never forget the nose I broke.

Nobody deliberately sets out to hurt their dance partner. Sometimes it is just being in the wrong place at the wrong time or just not getting somthing done right that leads to these collisions. My partner and I have clonked each other in unfortunate places over the years (Guildford was the least fortunate). Even a pair of international level teachers have had a training accident that resulted in her having a broken nose (while still having to fulfill her teaching commitments). Protect yourself. Protect others, but if you do enough dancing sooner or later an accident will happen.

Removing objects that could hurt yourself or others is just basic stuff like being told to do the same before games lessons at school.

[Astro]

There is absolutely no reason to need a wristwatch, mobile phone, keys on a dance floor. Leave them in a bag somewhere. If the venue is that dodgy that you fear for their safety put them in a cash box and padlock it to a radiator.

Don't try that @ Chiswick though. By the end of the evening everything will have melted down.

[gebandemuishond]

Oh no, all that stuff was correctly researched, just like the extensive research done on THAC0 numbers.

Oh good! You had me worried there for a second.

Dan

[Martin]

I do wear a watch for social dancing... I simply do not do moves where my watch comes into contact with my partner.

For dance shows, comps or lifts, watches off, all rings, bangles etc... are taken off.

[MartinHarper]

There is absolutely no reason to need a wristwatch, mobile phone, keys on a dance floor. Leave them in a bag somewhere. If the venue is that dodgy that you fear for their safety put them in a cash box and padlock it to a radiator.

I don't know: I've heard of stolen bags in plenty of venues that didn't really seem dodgy, and the cash box does seem rather extreme.
Mind you, I do need to get into the habit of leaving my car keys in the room at weekenders.

[Jivejunkie]

I won't wear a wristwatch now since I broke an unrepairable strap, and the one I've got now is too special too risk damaging anyway