My
dentist (who is a great guy) hung that suction device on the corner of my
mouth, you know, the one which vacuums up all the fluid. Then he began scraping and poking at my teeth
with the sharp pointy hook instrument while utilizing the little round mirror
on a stick.
(I
mention that he is a great guy just in case he happens to read this. First of all it’s true that he’s a great
guy. And second of all, I want him to
think that I think he’s a great guy because he is in a position to inflict a
lot of pain on me while making it seem like this: “Gee, I’m sorry, did that
hurt? Oops, that pain was an accidental
and inevitable result of the standard dentistry procedure.” So, once again, for the record, he’s a
wonderful fellow.)
While
all of this activity was happening in my mouth he began talking to me about
some issues and stories that invited my response. But how was I supposed to say anything? I couldn’t actually form any words with my
mouth hanging open and several instruments at work on my teeth.
But I
managed to make some rudimentary sounds that communicated simple responses such
as:
“Yes.”
“No.”
“Not
sure.”
“Wow!”
“Really?”
“I
guess so.”
And
this one...
“Frankly, there are a
number of ways of looking at that statement and a nuanced response is probably
in order.”
I’ll be
honest, that last one requires a whole series of grunts and guttural noises.
We had
a pretty good conversation without me actually doing any talking. Funny how that can happen, huh?
By the
way, I mentioned that he’s a terrific chap, right? …Okay, just making sure.
No comments:
Post a Comment