A teacher in a school in Bangkok had the fright of his life recently when, listening intently to what a girl standing by the side of his desk was saying, and looking downward so as to focus his concentration on her words, he became aware that she had six toes on her left foot.
Moys Kenwood, 50, was in a class trying to help his students understand the problems associated with inter-family breeding, and the consequences that might arise if 'incestual reproduction' were to take place, when the 'proof in the pudding' presented itself before his very eyes.
After a double-take - and, indeed, a triple-take, for good measure - the teacher chose not to use the girl as an example to the class, and tried to block out the hideous genetic mutation from his mind.
When this didn't work, he thought about how unfair life could be, and how this poor little girl was going to have to go through life with her deformity simply because two halfwits in her close family couldn't find someone outside of their own bloodline with whom to exchange fluids.
Further, he mused, socks were going to be a tight fit for her, as were shoes. The wearing of flip-flops - almost obligatory in this part of the world - would always be embarrassing. Pedicures would take longer, and would be more expensive, probably by 10%, and nail varnish, should she choose to wear it on her toenails, would have to be bought more often than it would have been had she been blessed with only the standard ten nails, instead of eleven.
It looks like it's going to be a bleak future ahead, then, for the girl with six toes on one foot, and five on the other.
