I am reclined in the dental chair, a little bib around my neck, a brace in my mouth, a light shining in my eyes, a suction tube slurping up my saliva and being deafened by the piercing shriek of a dental drill.
Or was I the one doing the shrieking?
No I'm sure it was the drill.
"So Barry," my dentist asks as if we were having a normal conversation, "Have you reached your Obama saturation point yet?"
"Augh haf gneunjd it awl" I reply, sensibly.
"Yes me too," he answers as if he understood me.
"This is the first Inauguration Gladys remembers," he tells me, smiling at his pretty, young dental assistant.
"Politics never really interested me before," she tells him. "But this has just been thrilling. I might just start getting interested in politics."
"So you don't remember Bush's Inauguration four years ago?" the dentist prods her.
"Ighutd Bfdh sintly puht" I remind him.
"No I was just interested in studying for collage. And music." she tells him, ignoring me.
"Well you're not alone, I don't think anyone remembers that," he eases up on the drilling and removes the brace. "You can rinse now, Barry. "
"Do you know what Obama's nickname was at college?" I ask, my mouth no longer full of dental implements.
They both look at me with the same astonishment they might give Lindsay if she suddenly started speaking English.
"I've no idea," the dentist stammers.
"Barry. His nickname was 'Barry'."
"You don't say."
"I do, the same as my name. He's the first President Barry. And do you know why it's called an inauguration?" I ask, determined to get in as much of the conversation as I van before the drilling starts again.
I take silence for assent, "It comes from the ancient Roman Augurs, priests who would sacrifice birds prior to auspicious events and read their entrails to forecast the likely success of a battle or the reign of a new Emperor. I read about it on the Life At Willow Manor Blog.
The dentist lowers my seat back down, replaces the brace and fires up the drill.
"That's disgusting," Gladys tells me. "What kind of poor birds would they sacrifice?"
"Thek wund xmnt thub enralds of a ruv."
"Eeewww." she reacts in horror.
"So you don't remember the Bush Inauguration at all?" Dentist goes back to his earlier question.
Having grossed out the dental assistant, I just relax and let them go about their work, replacing my old and crumbling fillings with new mercury free porcelain ones.
It augurs well for the future.
****************************************************************************
Linda and I are away visiting our daughter and her family for the weekend. No new post until Monday. Thanks for visiting.
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