whew

Tried on my big boy pants today

     I don't like them.  But I have to wear them.
     I had a tooth extracted.  In the old days, you would have said pulled.
     My experiences with dentists do not always go well.
     We had a dentist who specialized in working with children when I was growing up in Chicago.  My two brothers, my cousins, and I all dreaded the man.  Every time I see a fiberboard cutout of a happy tooth dancing with a toothbrush, I have nightmares.
     When I was 5, during a particularly painful appointment, I bit the man.  Hard.  He told my mother he would no longer see me as a patient and my mom had to find a new dentist.  My cousins and my brothers treated me like a hero.
     When I was in high school, I had a wisdom tooth that had to come out.  I took the bus up to the dentist's office at Broadway and Wilson, which was a couple of miles from my house.  I believe his name was Booth and I kept thinking maybe he considered me Lincoln.
     I went in expecting an exam, and the next thing I knew I was in the chair and a nurse was giving me a shot.  I remember the office overlooked the El tracks.  I  think it was on the seventh or eight floor of a building, but the tracks suddenly came up to within inches of my nose, spun around a couple of times and went white.
     The nurse led me over to a bed to lay down for a few minutes.  Some lady, who must have been l10, had several teeth pulled and she was up and about.
     After a few minutes of rest, I went back to the chair and this total stranger took a vice grips, clamped onto the tooth, and pulled and pulled and pulled and finally, it came out.
     They put gauze in my mouth and sent home.
      I didn't have a cent in my pocket.  It was 90 degrees, at least.  I walked all the way home, spitting out blood as I walked.
     Today was a walk in the park compared to that experience.  Gassed, sedated, pulled, and out of there, riding comfortably home in a car driven by Emily.
     To be honest, I am hungry as hell but limited to soft foods for a while....and no alcohol for 3 days! 
      Come Sunday, I'm eating a steak and drinking some wine.
      Peace and Love.