“Wow. Your’e only 42? How’d you get so much gray hair!?” 😒
My dentist said this to me earlier this week.
I’d expect it from some young kid half my age or from like a 3rd grader.
My dentist is 52. Still has a full head of black hair. (Asian genes)
This is the first time someone has insinuated I look OLDER than I actually am.
When I was younger, I always had the OPPOSITE problem.
I still looked like I was in high school probably a decade after graduating.
I once got carded as a 33-year-old to get into an R-rated movie. Seriously.
Salesmen would come to my house even after Jonny was born and ask for my parents. (Not even joking.)
But, that was at least 10 years ago. Time has marched on… (Coincidentally, Jonah is also 10 years old.) 🤔
Now, I apparently look ancient.
…or so my dentist implied.
So I told him the truth. “I’m a parent.”
“Oh? How many kids?”
“Two.”
“Me too!” He light-heartedly quipped. “Actually, I’ve got 3 teenagers.”
“Huh.”
I was a bit put off by this point.
I felt like I should be applying for an AARP card or something.
Actually, it felt a bit more like he was goading me… or fishing for a compliment..
“i’Ve gOt tHrEe kIdS, aNd am tEN yEaRs oLdEr thAn you aNd NO gRaY hAIr!”
🙄
So I leveled with him.
“Yeah…My kids have special needs. I’ve got a gray hair for every sleepless night with them for the last 15 years.”
I don’t think he could tell if I was serious or not, because he replied with…
“I hear ya. Teenagers, eh? Sometimes my kids ACT like they’ve got…”
He trailed off.
I was looking at him like this picture here. Do you think he picked up the nonverbal cue? The one that was saying “Yeah. Buddy. I’m not actually joking. I DARE you to finish that sentence.”
He was going to say “…like they’ve got special needs.”
Instead he just laughed it off.
“…Who knows with kids these days, right? Lolololololol!!” 🙄
🤨👍
Seriously, bro?
I picked up my coat and walked out. As I opened the front door, I could overhear the dentist saying to the scheduling assistant, “oh yeah. Jason needs three crowns and two root canals and.. and… ….pffft!” (As he looked to see if I was looking and/or laughing).
I was not.
Look. I get it. He’s just trying to break the ice and connect with his patients with light-hearted banter. But come-on, man.
I know I’m not a spring chicken anymore, but I guarantee I’ve earned every one of the gray hairs I’ve got.
“A gray head is a crown of glory, found in the way of the righteous” according to Proverbs 16:31.
Just sayin.
Glory, yall.
So, thanks for the checkup and the “all clear” with my teeth, Mister Dentist.
Congrats on your “no gray hair” in 52 years.
Me and my “crown of glory” need to pick the kids up from school before taking them to their therapies or their specialist appointments, or the geneticist, or their developmental pediatrician… and then I need to go home to make a dinner that won’t get eaten before I get my 4 hours of sleep.
See you next year.
#ausome