Is there something, a disease, an affliction or some sort of syndrome, called chalkfinger?

You might have heard about James Bond’s Goldfinger or even Cornelia Funke’s Dustfinger. But this “condition” is not fiction, oh, no…

It starts with black pants with white chalk smears on your rear-end, dusty elbows, and soon after you’ll experience the dreaded chalk film that deftly covers all your possessions. This is how I came to the realisation that chalkfinger might be a global pedagogical pandemic.

Since starting school again a few weeks ago I have noticed a sharp pain in the middlefinger of my right hand. I considered lack of use and even stiffness due to a lack of use in our technological society. But surely then I would have felt this before?

I therefore wondered if I too am not maybe affected by this chalkfinger, caused by hour-upon-hour of writing on the blackboard. In any event, it has been recorded that this new condition is only ever found in very special people – teachers…