Earlier this week I went to the dentist. I haven't seen a dentist since needing to have a wisdom tooth removed. Am I some derelict dipshit who doesn't care about their oral health? Absolutely not. What I am is a mother without dental insurance which means that my kids go to the dentist and I pay cash and that most likely it isn't in the budget for mom and dad to to add to that expense. I have never visited a doctor who says, "Why haven't you been in sooner? What were you doing?" As if you've been on vacation being completely irresponsible, neglecting your health and not taking care of business in general.
But, there I sat with a dentist asking me when the last time I had been seen was. He said, "So what have you been doing the rest of the time?" I could have told him about the kid who had cancer, the income that was destroyed when the economy tanked, or the recent pay cut my husband had to take and the fact that right now I'm dealing with HMO insurance and no dental insurance. Instead I looked him square in the eye and said, "I've been paying cash so my children's teeth could be taken care of."
He smiled, lightly poked me in the arm and said, "I'm only teasing you a little." As if he was making a point but meant to do it in a lighthearted way.

I wanted to say, "What can I say? You can't get blood from a turnip and it's not like there isn't a whole line of jerks who haven't already tried." I also wanted to ask him if they removed his sensitivity gene when they gave him his fancy diploma.

Gee, Dr. Wonderful with your thriving dental practice and the ass loads of patients with awesome benefits - does that preclude you from the news on the economy in general or does it just give you a free pass not to acknowledge it at all?