I went to the dentist once. The hygienist came in and we started talking. Turned out she was from somewhere far away and exotic like Brooklyn or Queens. I wanted her to think I was cool or something, in a friendly way, so I was doing my best to keep it interesting. I thought I did alright. Before she started her work she lowered a TV screen to about a foot away from my face, opened Netflix, and started playing Surf’s Up, the animated penguin surfing movie from 2007. Was this for me? It had to be. She couldn’t really see the screen and the volume was barely a whisper so it probably wasn’t for her benefit. Does she do this with all her patients? Same movie or does she try to match the movie to their intelligence? I almost asked if this was the one with Robin Williams but caught myself in time when I realized I was thinking of Happy Feet. She would occasionally talk about something non teeth related but she never mentioned the movie so I didn’t either. I wanted to get out of there as soon as possible without looking any more ridiculous so I did my best to focus on the movie and not the fact that I was a grown man watching Surf’s Up in a dentist office like some easily distracted toddler. The only thing that made the situation more uncomfortable was trying to stifle my laughter. Silly penguins.
They’re just bagatelles