Long In The Tooth
The Boy Scout walked into the dentist office early this morning with the slumped shoulders and the slow gait of a defeated man. He just started the new semester at college when a dental emergency hit. A very painful dental emergency. But having Kaiser and being strapped for meaningful cash, a dental emergency doesn’t mean quickly getting into your trusted dentist and being cared for humanely. It means “We will get you in February 24.” He sat with that for a few days until I was sure that if we had a gun he’d use it on himself. Kaiser finally fit him in in two days. On his way to the appointment, they called to say they had to cancel. The dentist, for whatever reason, would not be showing up. Finally today, at 7:00 am, he will have his problem addressed. That won’t fix the other health problem he is having which, being a delicate matter, I won’t discuss. He and his doctor will discuss it tomorrow morning. He gashed his head on the car door and looks like he could use butterfl...