24. Who Is Keeping Time?

Musing Interruptus is a podcast for sharing thoughts and stories and enjoying idiomatic phrases and words. You can read along; the transcription is in the description of this episode. The idiomatic expressions are in italics. Try to get the meaning from the context and then look them up to see if you were right. If you like it, share it, but more importantly, continue the conversation. The music is called The Curse by Blue Dot . Hello, Welcome. I’m Renée Valentina and this is Musing Interruptus. Going to the dentist is hard enough without having to consider things such as sensitivity and pain. Pain is sometimes a shared experience you pay for, willingly. Today I speak of one such occasion in Who Is Keeping Time? A visit to the dentist’s office starts long before you arrive at -the chair of horrors-. Every time you remember or forget to brush and floss you are preparing for that biyearly (if you are lucky) visit to the dentist’s office. For me, every time I have a cup of coffee or tea, I am reminded that I will pay for that stain on my teeth, with sweat and money. I don’t know which is greater.  The receptionist always reminds me my appointment is coming up. She checks-in with me to make sure I will show up. I never miss an appointment, unless something gets in my way, like a semi-trailer. Rather, it decided I was in its way. That is a true story, by the way.  I don’t like to miss my appointments. I’m pretty good at keeping them.  On my way to my appointment, I usually kick myself, — I should have used a toothpaste for sensitive teeth, preemptively. I always feel the ultrasonic cleaning tool in my brain. Then she uses some sort of buffing apparatus that shoots sensitivity pangs through my eyeballs. I work to pay for this, I think to myself. I am here willingly and almost gladly. While in the waiting room, I wonder, what is taking so long. I want to see her and sit in that chair. My thinking is, that the sooner I get in the chair, the sooner I will be on my way home, and it will all be a distant memory.  When I think about it, there are many experiences that repeat this pattern. It is the right thing to do, it is good for you, but it hurts and feels like torture. I can think of an endoscopy with a local anesthetic. That isn’t actually good for you, it is a diagnostics tool. If there is something wrong, the hell will just be perpetuated. If you don’t do it, if you let whatever is going on continue festering, undetected, the hell awaiting you will be greater. Knowing is always better. Nip it in the bud. Cavities and cancers are similar in that sense, catch them early and your chances of suffering are less. Let them progress and, well. We all know what happens. That is why I go to the dentist twice a year, brush my teeth three times a day, and floss.  I need to tell you about my dentist. I love her. She offers an immersive experience designed to distract your attention from what is going on in your mouth. You can listen to music or watch Netflix with headphones and a stress ball in each hand. It works until it doesn’t. Last time I felt the sensitivity pierce my skull and we had to stop. Similar to other endeavors, there is a safeword or safe motion that indicates we need to stop. So we did. She did.  She explained we were on the last tooth that needed to be cleaned. The tea stain was there in all its glory surrounded by lovely, freshly cleaned teeth. There were three options,  She numbs the area and goes at it. We forget about it till next time, maybe the sensitivity will diminish.  She goes for it. It will take 10 seconds.  As I listen to the options, the last one becomes ever more enticing. 10 seconds you say? I can hold on for ten seconds. I can do 10 seconds in my sleep, I think to myself. All the while I could feel the look on my face resembling Jack Nicholson as the Joker in Batman or in the movie Anger Management Continue reading