Curses and FIFO

[stanhalen]

Greetings all -

I'm a relatively new player and suspect this question has probably been answered, but I haven't been able to find a clear answer in the rules or FAQ by myself. I recently played a game with some friends where we came upon the following situation:

Player A loses in combat and rolls to flee. Failing the roll, Player A, currently a halfling, announces the use of the halfling racial ability to roll a second flee attempt. At this point, Player B announces the use of a curse that will remove Player A's race.

If FIFO is strict and things happen in the order they're announced, then I'm inclined to say that Player A's racial ability goes off first. However, in trying to determine if this is the correct resolution, I found this in the FAQ:

Q. If you use a one-shot Item during combat and someone tries to make it disappear through Curse or Theft, do you get the bonus?
A. Theft doesn't work while you are in combat. Use of a Curse could destroy an Item as you try to use it, but once you play the Item into the fight, it's not yours to be Cursed anymore.

To me, this answer seems to imply that there is a "moment" after the usage of an item is announced where a curse can destroy the item before that item's effect has taken place. Is this correct? If so, does this situation bear any similarity the one I described above? Can a curse be used to counter a racial ability by removing the race after the use of the ability has been announced but before the effect of the ability has occurred?

I hope all of this makes sense. I appreciate any and all attempts to help me make sense of this.