long in da toof

today i learned the exact etymology of that 'spression, long in the tooth, from my dentist whose name sounds like it comes straight from the encyclopedia of doctor seuss. the dentist was cleaning my teeth, see, and he said they were soooo clean, he said they were sooo clean that he stopped cleaning to ask me exactly what i do to them (it's funny, cause i think they're a little yellow, but i guess they can have that sunflower hue and still be soooo clean). and i said, 'well, sir, i brush twice a day.' and he said, 'do you floss?' and i said, 'of course!' and he said, 'not of course, not everybody does.'

and i felt like i was 10 y.o. and oh so proud of my good hygiene and it reminded me of when i was 12 y.o. and lived in the city of j'lem (the holy one with the dome of the rock and all the threats of bombing all the time) and a dentist there told me i had a cavity, my first, i think, and as i waited for the bus to return me to my 'hood, i cried and cried. it was a damp, grey fall day, i remember, kind of grainy, rainy, and this old woman at the bus stop asked me why i was crying. and i told her. but now, i see, what the bigger answer is, it's all so obbbbvious, as teenagers say with that extra dose of contempt: it was about decay, aging, betrayal. it often is.