Dentistry, and Me

Ned Lunt, DDS. Hardly a second father, but a good man nonetheless. The place he works, however, is one that will forever remain to me a sort of second home at home.
Weird, right? What sort of kid thinks of a dental office as a second home? Especially one who isn't even related to a dentist! Well, that would be me. Not the only thing a little bit odd about me, but people love me for all my little oddities, thankfully. When I was just a wee little thing my dear mother went to work as a receptionist at the dental office. I remember sitting for hours in the back room with my sister, watching movies and playing with our G.I. Joe's (and yes, I do still have them). We would roll our marbles down the back ramp, all three sections, and run around loudly on the weekends when we were there with Mom (for which, I might add, we were definitely reprimanded). Even though I remember getting tired of being there for so long, I also remember always getting excited to go there. All those mysterious posters of teeth on the walls, the noises of dental tools always grinding away, the colorful gloves the hygienists wore; everything about it made it seem just a little larger than life to us little kids.

So, as a tribute to the art of dentistry, my sister says in her simple manner, "Dentristy: bittersweet. I hate the dentistry, but I love the dentist." And I say, "Dentistry, I really like the part where I get control of the water and sucking tools." Together we add, "Thanks to you, dentistry, we loved the dental aspects of Finding Nemo more than most. You give us an appropriate appreciation of modern culture." Thank you dentistry, for all you have done for us.