The preview of spring today and tomorrow is well appreciated; sunshine is much needed since I don’t believe in taking Vitamin D supplements. Today I didn’t get to enjoy it as much as I would have liked – since I had Part Two of the dentist.

I’ve decided that I really dislike the receptionist at the dentist’s office – enough so that I may never go back.

I called to tell them I MAY be 10 minutes late and her answer: “OK, but can’t you try to come on time?”

“Yes,” I tell her. “I am trying to come on time, but I have a baby and have to pass her off to her daddy and he’s at work. It’s ten minutes and I’m giving you the courtesy of calling to say I MAY be late. Yesterday you made me wait 30 minutes after I came on time. I didn’t say anything. I don’t think it’s too much to ask. I’ve been a patient for almost a decade.”

“OK,” she says again. “But please try to come at 5. I will tell the lab technician to wait for you for 10 minutes. But only 10 minutes.” I had no idea what the lab technician had to do with anything. He made the tooth in the morning and had left already.

At this point I was mostly angry because she was being so STUPID. Her words were coming out but they made no sense. Was she serious? I am coming in for a $1,500 veneer and she’s telling me I can’t be 10 minutes late? I felt steam coming from my ears.

When I passed the baby off to daddy, I ran the 15 blocks through Midtown to make it to the dentist’s office. I didn’t want to walk around another day with an overly-sensitive tooth stump. I walked in the office at 5:03pm. There were several people in the waiting room and what seemed like a chaotic office at closing time. There were still plenty of patients in the various rooms. I waited at least 10 minutes before they took me in and another 20 minutes before the dentist came in to work on me.

I told the compassionate dental assistant from yesterday that I thought the receptionist was a bitch. I recounted the phone conversation to her. At first she said, “Oh my God, she said THAT?” Then she tried to excuse her by saying she was foreign. Oh OK – so foreign is now an acceptable excuse for lousy customer service?

The tooth fix went on without much of a hitch. He blew some air on it, there was lots of drooling, some cement and an ultra-violet light and presto – my perfect smile is back again. For that, I’m grateful for modern dentistry.