Cell Phones and the Dentist
Don’t you just hate people who talk on their cell phones while they drive? Blindly babbling away, not paying attention to the road, endangering everyone nearby… so inconsiderate.
Anyway, today while I was chatting on the phone and driving to the dentist, I got a tiny bit distracted and turned onto the wrong road — twice. But I cleverly figured out a shortcut back to where I belonged and pulled into the parking lot right on time. Unfortunately, it was the parking lot at my doctor’s office — not my dentist’s.
Now, I’ve always been a little reluctant to go to the dentist. When I was young, they used to lie to me to get me there. Of course, once I knew what was happening, I would throw a full-on crying fit — in the car, in the elevator, in the waiting room, in the dentist’s chair, on the way home, and again later just to be sure everyone knew how much I hated it.
My mother was also terrified of the dentist. She passed that fear down like a family recipe. Her dentist criteria? One thing only: lots of Novocain. The skill of the dentist? Secondary.
Honestly, I still believe dentistry might have been invented by Beelzebub himself. Our old dentist looked like a devil’s minion with those thick coke-bottle glasses. And at the end of each visit — just when we thought it was over — he’d hand us a lollipop. A lollipop! Clever marketing? Maybe. Ethical? Not so much.
Even today, after many kinder and gentler dentists, I still get uneasy before an appointment. Which brings me to two points about cell phone use while driving:
- Maybe it wasn’t the phone that distracted me — maybe my subconscious was trying to help me avoid the dentist altogether. A desperate act of self-preservation.
- But if it was the phone, I feel like I deserve a pass. After all, I was on my way to the dentist. What if I couldn’t talk afterward? What if they crammed forty tools in my mouth and then asked how I was doing?
In conclusion, yes — I will continue judging others for using a cell phone while driving… unless, of course, they’re on their way to the dentist. Then, I totally get it.