Monday, February 12, 2007

Curious Cat Question

So I had my right third molar pulled early this morning.

I consider this a major milestone since, given my history, I've always considered dentists (and the dreaded dentists' chairs) as my personal nemeses. The dentist in question-- a family friend who's treated all of us ever since when-- knows how... disagreeable I get when she pulls out the drill. My pain threshold is very, very, very, very, low.

That's why when she assessed me for a tooth-pulling, my first instinct was to run. Why? I asked, Can't we just... you know, add pasta to it? She said that as a rule, third molars are pretty useless and there's no need for heroic measures to save the tooth. Chop-chop, she said, open wide. Despite my entreaties and delaying questions, I grudgingly opened my mouth.

How can I not be fearful, after all? Before pulling the tooth, she also pulled out this big-assed syringe for anesthesia. My fear of dentists plus injections? This is no fucking way to start the day, much more the week.

Consider my surprise when she injected my gums thrice with anesthesia, and then used this rod to pop out the tooth-- all in a minute and with not much pain, much to my chagrin.

So my question is: what are your childhood fears and are they still there, hiding under your beds?

10 comments:

Don said...

deep open water.

Charles said...

No wonder you fell in love with Cthullu. =)

Anonymous said...

hi, banzai. made a comment on one of your posts but twas gone. *sob

fears? you say fears? not only one. not two. not three but many. will not write all about them. will mention only one. i am afraid of the waters, even the water from the pool. 'til now, i carry it. perhaps because i cant swim.

Sean said...

Stuffed toys.

banzai cat said...

fuhrer: Is that phobia, fear due to psychic warning, or childhood?

charles: Heh witty man.

bingskee: Sorry, blogger sometimes acts up.

Actually, I also can't swim but I'm enchanted by moving or running waters, including mall fountains, fully-open faucets and even overflowing canals. Don't know why: something about loving what can't love you back? ;-)

sean: Hehe yeah I remember reading that. And here I though I had an overactive imagination. :-D

Don said...

err..I don't really know. it seems really innate. Blah.

Blagador said...

two things i'm sort of scared of, not necessarily stuff that originated in childhood:

--i can't stand looking straight down from upper-story windows or balconies or rooftops. if you found me walking down some bridge, there'd be no way you could make me stand close to the hand rails; part of me is sort of convinced that i'd rather be run over by some speeding vehicle than fall out into a river, et cet.

--i'm always fidgety around airport security or immigration officials. whenever i'm in some foreign airport, i always fear i'd be picked out of the crowd and then thrown into some dark room and then subjected to a full orifice search or something. ugh.

Jego said...

Replaced by adult fears such as:

1) Catastrophic climate change. Not the man-made kind (if it exists). The natural, cyclical one that happens every so often. Natural climate change is a lot scarier than man-made ones because we can do nothing about it.

2) Being stopped at a checkpoint and having 5 grams of shabu or a rusty old gun planted on my person.

3) Falling down a flight of stairs while carrying someone else's baby.

Anonymous said...

horror flicks still scare the hell out of me. i'm not really a huge fan of watching those. :P

banzai cat said...

fuhrer: Must be you were a cat in your past life. ;-)

paul: Well, I can understand the first one because I have a fear of heights meself. It's worse if the balcony I'm in doesn't have any nearby buildings. Brrr!

On the other hand, I think your latter fear is part of being Filipino, especially the fact that we're always under suspicion of being a seaman or nurse or maid when we're abroad, dammit. (Yes, I'm speaking from experience, having been mistaken for a seaman in Singapore. Eh.)

jego: Heh. If we go into adult fears then I think we'll never finish. Personally, I fear growing old especially after seeing my friends all getting married. Next thing you know, we're having golden anniversary celebrations and the like. Eh.

stg: But... but...horror movies are the bomb! (Except for zombie movies. They scare the sh*t out of me. 8-o .)