I could be a dentist

by kevinpotter on December 2, 2008

Dentists use small fussy tools and so do jewelers. Dentists work with gold and so do jewelers. Dentists wear see-biggers (magnifiers) that is what my son used to call them when he was little.  Heck, I can work on teeth. I have teeth so I am qualified.

That is what went through my mind after walking into the shop and seeing the boss with a mirror and a pair of vise grips. A little background is in order. I work a couple days a week in a machine shop and the owner is nuts. I mean this in the most literal sense. He is the ultimate do-it-yourselfer. Aside from that he is cheap- real cheap and prefers physical pain to financial pain. What do you do when you crack a tooth? I go to the dentist. The manly men pull it themselves.

Anyway, I was given the chance to assist in minor oral surgery right there in the shop. He sprayed the needle nose vise grips with brake parts cleaner, then I cleaned the air gun. I put a new grinding stone in the flex shaft and we went to town on that sucker.

First he reached up in their with the pliers and grabbed ahold of the little bugger-it made a crushing sound. I was ready with the air hose and the flash light, as well as play by play description of the destruction.  Nothin’ like a good pair of vise grips to get ahold of somethin’.  I thought he was pretty tough, but man, I think he squeezed out a few tears when the dang thing didn’t come out in one piece. That’s right it wasn’t a clean pull. We had to go back in for seconds, that’s where I come in. I use the air hose to clear the deck so to speak. What a mess. He digs in deeper the next time and pulls out some roots. Wow, this guy is made of stone! I would be on the ground whining like a new born. Bingo he gets some but not all of it. Wow that’s alot of blood. He is not even sweatin’ -what a champ. Third time’s a charm -lots of digging but he can’t get a hold of it. He asks if I would be willing to give it a go, but alas, I am a chicken. It is crunch time and I choked. He breaks out the flex shaft and I give him a couple of shots of air into the hole and he grinds the root down. I wish I could tell you he pulled a flask out of his hip pocket and rinsed his mouth with whiskey, but that would be an exaggeration- he used a couple of sample bottles of Listerine.

kevinpotter

kevinpotter

kevinpotter

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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }

steve mashburn December 8, 2008 at 10:36 am

Wowser!!!! I think you could have sold tickets to that!!

I heard this quote somewhere before along the lines of “it’s not that it doesn’t hurt, it’s that you have to decide that you don’t care that it hurts.”

Jeanette December 5, 2008 at 8:44 am

This has to be the most disgusting yet hilarious thing I’ve ever read. I’m a very visual person and I just can’t stop laughing. Oh, the tears!!! Please tell us, did this REALLY happen? hahahahahahhah ouch!!!

Tina December 4, 2008 at 1:55 pm

DANGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG, and I HAD to read that during lunch !

Helen Hill December 4, 2008 at 7:52 am

Ooh, I’m feeling rather delicate after reading that! Don’t think I’ll eat for a while yet. 😉
Helen Hill

LynnWhite December 3, 2008 at 11:44 am

Oh…my….God…

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