20041129
teething
i noticed that most grievances among my peers and i started with our first jobs - jobs with health insurance.* i looked at the forms i had to fill out, and bit my cheek - and the first things i wanted to spend that insurance on were my teeth.
ah, teething - still one of the healthy signs of growing up, onescore years after our births.
most dentists will tell you to have your wisdom teeth pulled - even with their sturdyness and strength, they're ultimately useless, and will just crowd the back of your mouth. you'll just end up chewing the insides of your cheeks. the teeth will stretch your gums further and further back so your jaw looks wider and squarer than it really is.
when i was six adults told me those last eight teeth were called "wisdom" coz they pop out when you're old enough to be wise. in college, i forgave the lairs - i figure, they're dentists, so they prolly had surgery to have their bothersome teeth pulled. at the slightest bite of the insides of their cheeks, they squirm; they can't stand the idea of biting down and eating their own cells and tissue.
in college, right next to the dentists, were images of buddhist monks immolating themselves, photographers braving vietnam and the screams of a naked girl burning with napalm, a sea of african-american men for the million man march, a sea of protestant white men of the promise keepers, the pope's picture ripped to bits by a bald chanteuse with the angel voice, dotcom companies springing like mushrooms after a storm. nurses picketing in the winter cold for better pay. city public schools selling out to corporations that would mend leaky ceilings in exchange for their products in the cafeteria vending machines. haiti swallowed whole by the sea. missionary friends in manila, confused and frustrated by EDSA 2, "estrada paid these anarchists! there's a car burning in front of the center! trash is everywhere!"
i figure to those who had their furthest teeth pulled, wimps!
so for months i ate painkillers so i can finish college papers and send out resumes and eventually understand work assignments to complete them. that shaking sound trudging down the hallway? my bottle of tylenol inside my backpack.
eventually all eight teeth somehow made it out. took 'em five years, but they're out. the pain's gone, but i sometimes still bite my cheeks. i'm still thinking of having them pulled, and i have the sick leave for it - i'm told it's one whole month for both sides of your mouth. ah, time for me, even if i'm sick. i can catch up on loads of reading! yum. maybe next year.
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* - "so our jobs aren't real if they don't have health insurance." ok, i changed it, all right. leave me alone. ¶ 11/29/2004 09:46:00 PM
ah, teething - still one of the healthy signs of growing up, onescore years after our births.
most dentists will tell you to have your wisdom teeth pulled - even with their sturdyness and strength, they're ultimately useless, and will just crowd the back of your mouth. you'll just end up chewing the insides of your cheeks. the teeth will stretch your gums further and further back so your jaw looks wider and squarer than it really is.
when i was six adults told me those last eight teeth were called "wisdom" coz they pop out when you're old enough to be wise. in college, i forgave the lairs - i figure, they're dentists, so they prolly had surgery to have their bothersome teeth pulled. at the slightest bite of the insides of their cheeks, they squirm; they can't stand the idea of biting down and eating their own cells and tissue.
in college, right next to the dentists, were images of buddhist monks immolating themselves, photographers braving vietnam and the screams of a naked girl burning with napalm, a sea of african-american men for the million man march, a sea of protestant white men of the promise keepers, the pope's picture ripped to bits by a bald chanteuse with the angel voice, dotcom companies springing like mushrooms after a storm. nurses picketing in the winter cold for better pay. city public schools selling out to corporations that would mend leaky ceilings in exchange for their products in the cafeteria vending machines. haiti swallowed whole by the sea. missionary friends in manila, confused and frustrated by EDSA 2, "estrada paid these anarchists! there's a car burning in front of the center! trash is everywhere!"
i figure to those who had their furthest teeth pulled, wimps!
so for months i ate painkillers so i can finish college papers and send out resumes and eventually understand work assignments to complete them. that shaking sound trudging down the hallway? my bottle of tylenol inside my backpack.
eventually all eight teeth somehow made it out. took 'em five years, but they're out. the pain's gone, but i sometimes still bite my cheeks. i'm still thinking of having them pulled, and i have the sick leave for it - i'm told it's one whole month for both sides of your mouth. ah, time for me, even if i'm sick. i can catch up on loads of reading! yum. maybe next year.
---
* - "so our jobs aren't real if they don't have health insurance." ok, i changed it, all right. leave me alone. ¶ 11/29/2004 09:46:00 PM
