Reflective Dentist

Tuesday night we were having fish tacos for dinner, and I was crunching on a tortilla chip (yes, you can find them here!), when a big chunk of a molar cracked off, leaving a huge gaping hole. We got the number of a local dentist from our friends, and first thing in the morning I called. Luckily, the dentist had a cancellation that afternoon, so by 2:00 pm, I found myself sitting in that all-too-familiar position: laying down, head back, staring into that opaque light, my mouth full of rubber-gloved, exploring fingers and pokey tools.

It is always hard to have a conversation at the dentist office, especially once the dentist begins to work. For some reason, this dentist, who was about my age, was especially chatty. Maybe it was the "OBAMA 08" bumper sticker on my car that got him going, because he was asking me all kinds of questions about the election, and the possibility that America just might elect a black president. He still couldn't imagine that it could be possible! He then spoke about the article in yesterday's paper that showed that the University of Cape Town was now ranked 179th in the world! That's right, there are world rankings for universities. And it seems that UCT climbed from 196th to 179th since 2007. He was very proud of that accomplishment, especially since UCT was the only African university in the top 200. I asked him where he did his training, and he said that he went to Stellenbosch University, a traditionally elite Afrikans university. I hadn't told him a thing about what I do, and he voluntarily started to remember that:

"Back then, it was an all-white university. We even shared a building with UWC, the "coloured university," but we were totally separate. In fact, all the systems were duplicated. We had 3 floors in this building, and they had 3 floors, with all the equipment duplicated. And we didn't interact at all! And we all trained at Tygerberg Hospital, but we never interacted there either. The hospital had two sides, mirror images of each other: one was for the whites, and the other for everyone else. You know, when I talk to my kids about those days, they can't believe it! And you know, from my vantage point now, I almost can't believe that we lived like that and that it seemed normal. While there were some activists, most of us didn't question it. It was just how things were!"

Well luckily, he hadn't really begun the grinding, but was still just poking around. And so, I was able to respond. I said, "It's somewhat frightening, how easy it is for us humans to accept such bizarre realities as normal. What twisted, pretzel logic for that set-up to seem normal. Not to mention, it is incredibly inefficient --duplicating dental training in two neighboring, yet totally disconnected facilities. But somehow, if we're not really intimately and personally aware of the injustices that are going on, it seems pretty easy for people to justify, even if it is just quiet acceptance, the cushy, preferential treatment that they receive. The unawareness is almost blissful."

It turns out, he has two boys 17 and 14, who he feels are receiving a completely different education, and one that is really preparing them for a different, multicultural world. I sure hope he is right.

It took over an hour (story-telling included) for him to fix my tooth. But when I left, I had a beautifully-repaired molar, a great story to share, and had to pay exactly 877 Rand --or about $92. What a deal!

Blog ya later.
Seth./.