A Grouch at the Dental Bank

MORNING OF AUGUST 7, 2009

I was trying to make an appointment with a dentist (inspired by the recent lost of a filling that was covering a tiny chip on the top of a tooth--it doesn't hurt at all, so I've been lax in making an appointment to have it fixed). The dentist's office I went to looked exactly like a bank and nothing like a my dentist's office (or any other, I'm sure).

While I was in line waiting to make an appointment with the "teller", I noticed one wall had a glass case with a series of random and interesting items on display. One of them was an original, official "Oscar the Grouch" puppet, posed complete with trash can. I reminded myself to get a good look at it and snap a picture on my way out.

After speaking with the "teller", I vaguely remember her taking me to the back to speak to a dentist or hygienist or something. True to the bank motif, everything in the back was just offices with desks and chairs. No actual dentist's stuff anywhere.

My next memory is leaving the building. I was walking down the street away from the "bank" (which, on the outside, was a surprisingly shoddy little structure--a total mismatch with the spacious, posh interior). I suddenly remembered the Oscar puppet inside. I'd forgotten to get a look/snap a picture.

I debated for a moment whether it was worth the trouble to go back and decided it was. My last memory is that a lot of people were standing all around the glass display case when I went back in. I was hesitating, not wanting to ask them to move for me to take a picture.