4 hands +1 mouth = woe is me...

...second dental appointment in two weeks.  I was happily munching away on something that I now no loner care to eat and broke a tooth a week ago. Enjoying a snack last Wednesday that I will never put in my mouth again. Creating the need for the second new tooth. Now is a good time to be thankful for the supplemental dental insurance policy that comes out of my dinky little paycheck each week.

Surprisingly, amazingly, thankfully it did not hurt during the time between when it happened and when I got a new tooth. It could have easily been sensitive to hot or cold, or the process of breathing a thousand times each day. But there was no pain involved. You know how you have something odd going on in there, your tongue keeps wandering over to see what is going on, and poking around in a spot where it should not be.

I had to be at the dentist's office at eight o'clock this morning, so I left home much too early. Other wise I would have been late, due to traffic piling up at the end of the driveway, keeping me from getting out onto the street. So I got up at 6, to start dreading the hours I would spend sitting in the chair with numerous hands in my mouth. If there is any good news in all this it would be my deductible was paid from the hours I spent sitting in that same spot a couple of weeks ago, and my insurance paid half of what he normally charges.

During one of the lulls when there were no hands in my mouth, I thanked him for saving my tooth. Talking about all the people I see everyday in the workplace with gaps in their mouth, or bad teeth and think to myself: 'why don't you get that fixed?' I am thankful to still have mine, though some are courtesy of the marvels of computer technology that can make a remarkable facsimile of what's no longer there.

I think one of my co-workers will never move up the ladder from his present job due largely to appearance. A long history of neglecting dental hygiene. Which I surmise no one has had the gumption to tell him he needs to do something about, or else he cannot afford the expense.

You would like to believe that in this day and age of 'inclusion' and diversity, it would not really matter. But, in reality, there will always be people we see and have to force 'politeness', act as if there is nothing out of the ordinary, ignore that glaring and very apparent problem. Disregard the Elephant in the Living Room.