I always find it funny when I'm at the dentist, with my mouth open wide and having my teeth and gums poked with a sharp metal instrument, that my dentist will always start talking to me about the strangest things and ask me questions that demand an answer. The conversation seems to come out of the blue and I'm never entirely sure how to respond. Yesterday's conversation went like this:
Chris the Dentist: Mmmm.... you seem to have a bit of gum, just here (poking hard with his metal instrument) that is a bit infected. There was a fascinating programme on telly last night. It was on a dead hippo. Did you watch it?
Me: uhhh
Chris : it was great. it was all about how a dead hippo gets eaten over 4 days.
Me: Uhhh
Chris: Okay, well the hippo is dead on the river bank and then along comes this crocodile and it can't get through the hippo's thick skin. Guess what the only animal that can bite through the hippo's skin is? (He takes the prod out of my mouth)
Me: A jackal?
Chris: Yes! Well done, you. You're brilliant. Actually it's the female jackal. Anyway, then the crocodile comes back and snaps at the jackal so that the jackal has to leave and the crocodile eats what it wants.
Me: Chris I'm just wondering... here I am with you scraping away at my teeth and gums and you suddenly launch into a conversation about a dead hippo. Do I remind you of one?
Chris (laughing): No, of course not!
Me: A crocodile? (Chris shakes his head) A jackal? (shakes his head again, then puts the metal prod back in my mouth).
Chris: Then there's the insects. You'll need to watch this bit of gum, maybe next time you come we'll talk about whether to put a filling in there so there's no gap. Okay, rinse and spit. Did you know they put a transmitter on the insects so they can follow them?
Me (with rinse in my mouth): uhhh
Chris: That's you for today. See you in six months.
Surreal or what?
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