Thursday, January 3, 2013

Guess what...

.....Guess what happened today?

I went to the dentist.  It was an uneventful appointment for the most part.  My teeth and gums are healthy and fine.  The cleaning was the uneventful part.

There are 2 things I'd like to share:

First of all, you know how I've mentioned a couple of zillion times that I'm the designator listener in the world.  You talk and I listen.  That just about sums it up.  I walked into the dental office and every seat was taken except for one.  I knew the woman who was sitting next to the empty chair.  She looked at me as I entered and caught my eye.

Here is the conversation.  (if you can call it that)

Me:  "Well, hey!  How are you?"  I said, not realizing she had no clue of my identify.

Her:  "Hello"  She reaches over to move her coat and book so I could sit down in the only available seat.

So now I'm sitting right beside her.

Her:  "Looks like today is "See Your Dentist" day.

Me:  "I had to park around in the back.  I was surprised to see so many cars in front."

Talking to her now face to face  I realize  she does not know who in the world I am.  I'm sure she is going through the rolodex in her mind.  (Yes, I still have a ROLODEX kids)

Let's see.......... do I know her from work?  School?  Kids?  Does she work at the mall?  Does she work at the drug store?  Where have I seen this woman before?

We sat awkwardly for probably 5 minutes.  I felt awkward.  I guess she did, too.  I don't know.  I did think about introducing myself but then it was one of those things where the opportunity had kinda passed and anyway I wasn't feeling mature and friendly by that time.  I was a little frustrated and a little outdone.  Not angry - I just wanted to scream "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

You see, I taught this woman's daughter in preschool.  I was her daughter's 6th grade Sunday School Teacher.  Her daughter spent several nights at my house during the middle school years when Ironman and I were active in the Middle School Ministry at our church.  She lived in my neighborhood before we sold our house and moved away.  She and a couple of her friends would walk in the afternoons for exercise and many, many times I would join them.

With all that, she did not know who I was.  Wow.

Calling Dr. Phil!  Why am I so forgettable?

But that wasn't all that happened.  I had a quick, short, friendly (I thought) conversation with another woman as I was leaving.  Just the usual small talk "How was your Christmas?"  stuff like that.  I asked her about her son.  She said that he is now in the 8th grade and would be moving up to high school next year.  Surprisingly, (or not) she did not ask about my daughter who is also in the 8th grade and will be moving up to high school next year.  But whatever.  Then she began to tell me how unhappy they have been with the middle school.  When I began to tell her just a quick story about my son who attended that same school and how we were hesitant to transfer him there but that he wanted to be on the football team and so we did it.   Suddenly I was the "teller" and I realized there was no "listener"  Oh she was standing there but her eyes were glazed over and she was so disinterested and just barely tolerating me.  I had only spoken 3 sentences about myself.  I had just been listening politely to her go on and on and on about her Christmas and her cooking and her messy house and this and that.



AAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

I got in the car, slammed the door and thought, "Time to do something about this.  I'm brushing off the frustration and moving on"

People are so weird.

Today I put away all the holiday decor.  Boxed and stored in the attic.
I dusted.
I vacuumed.
I loaded and then later unloaded the dishwasher.
I swept the front porch.
I pulled the slipcover off the couch cushions, washed, dried and replaced them.

Today was my "rest" day on P90 workout.

Tomorrow:  Scupt 3-4  My fave.



Toodles.

1 comment:

  1. I don't know about you, but I always thought the painless cleaning was more painful than having a cavity filled. Some dentists (who have the highest suicide rate by profession) clink around in your mouth like an auto mechanic.

    Well, good to see you're off to a great start in 2013. Who really knows what it will eventually bring. Let's just hope it is prosperity.

    Cheers!

    ReplyDelete