The First Time I went to a Dentist

Lucky me, I was at the dentist again today. And while there the dentist said that if she was doing anything that was causing me pain, just signal her somehow. To which I responded I would grab her, and she said "where was I planning to grab her: The answer went unsaid by me.
But, the question made me think of a story my mother told me about the first time she took me to a dentist in our old neighborhood in Brooklyn. It seems that at around the age of five, she took me to a dentist for my first visit, well she waited outside while I went onto the dental chair with the dentist. My mother says about five minutes later the dentist came running out of the exam room dragging me along by the arm. The dentist than screamed at my mother" Your Son Bit Me" To which my mother  said she asked me "Why did you bite the Dentist?". To which my mother said I answered, " because he was hurting me." At which point my mother said to the dentist. You deserved to be bit and we left that dentist forever.

Never Overestimate the Sophistication of the People You Meet

Today I went to the dentist, and to begin with the dental assistant, who I had never met before, acted very tentatively with me. So, in my never ending quest to find all the things going on in every situation I find myself in; I said to her " Instead of just doing something to me, how about if you give me some warning like" Now I am going to Xray your teeth." At that point the dental assistant told me she was a temp, not really familiar with the procedures in this office, and she further said she had been sent by a dental temp agency who told her she was temping for a dental assistant whose daughter had died, and she thought she was walking into a dental office where all the dentists, dental assistants and the patients would be in mourning, and very upset. 

So the temp had made up her mind to prevent any further mourning, by talking as little as possible to both the staff and the patients. Well, it turns out the absent dental assistants' niece had died, not that anyone dying is a cause for celebration, but at least it wasn't the dental assistants daughter who had died,  and all the staff and the patients in the office were not in mourning, all of which led to my not getting the bedside manner from the temp I should have gotten. To top that off, the dentist heard all this from the temp,  and began instructing the temp in how to help her  with my dental problem. 

One thing I did not want to hear while in pain in the dental chair, was one "professional" teaching another professional, while they were both knee deep into my mouth.

So that's how my day began.