Tag: dentists
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The Continued Americanization of Dirk
Call me a nationalist, but I’ve long held the belief that if you set up residence in a country, you should do your best to assimilate yourself into that country’s culture. Last time I lived in Belgium, even though I knew it probably wasn’t forever, I went to night school to study Flemish (Nog nu kann ik een beetje Vlaams spreken.); when I lived in Singapore I ate nothing but local food for three years and adopted Buddhism. So it only seems right that now I have given up all notion of ever returning to England and have officially settled… Read more
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Dental damn
Yesterday I paid a long-overdue visit to the dentist. I had been going to another dentist near my old office, but I stopped giving them the benefit of my extensive custom following certain ‘billing disagreements’ over what turned into several hundred dollars worth of ‘cleaning’ (and I use the term ‘worth’ very loosely…). I didn’t think my teeth had actually gotten any worse since I left school as I don’t really have a lot of tooth left to get worse, on account of the school dentist (who I swear was paid by the tooth drilled) drilling out a large portion… Read more
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America: Zero Tolerance
Americans must have zero tolerance for pain. Last week I had one of my remaining two wisdom teeth extracted (the final one being so calcified over with bone that to remove it would mean cutting a hole in my jaw, which I didn’t fancy). I scheduled my appointment for 8:00am to minimize the interruption to my workday, and drove there straight from the office (where I’d already fitted in 2 or 3 hours of work). The first red flag went up when the receptionist asked me who had come with me to “take me home, afterwards” as I’d be in… Read more