Look Ma, Three Arms!

So I was driving to work today, listening to the BBC World News (as I always do), trying not to get depressed about the horrible things going on in the Middle East (BBC loves to abide by the "if it bleeds, it leads" rule), when all of a sudden, they start talking about some baby in China that had three arms. THREE ARMS? I almost had to pull over.

The reporter was interviewing the doctor, asking him questions like, "So why did you detach the third arm?" I was sort of expecting some sort of explanation of the physiological damage that could occur with a third arm, but he said the extra arm was almost perfectly functional. It's just that the parents had requested it be removed so the kid wouldn't be teased when he got older.

I guess that's a good point. And there is the concern that you'd have to sew in an extra sleeve in all his shirts...what a pain. But think of the plus side: he could have turned out to be a one-of-a-kind virtuoso pianist! I guess they thought what's the point, unless he has FOUR arms, right?