From time to time, there are little unpleasant things which, while you're experiencing them, seem to be moments that last forever. While I'm in the middle of them, these small but necessary occurrences often seem at the time as though they are in places where I've always been, and as if I'm going to be there for ever. Case in point: dental exams. They seem to be the kind of exam I can only fail. Every endured grinding assault on the enamel of my teeth reminds me of the last time I was being tortured on the dental rack—and I have a wonderful dentist.
