Last Friday, we were on our way to the airport. We have been trying to go skiing together as a family for several years and our schedules have been in conflict. About three weeks ago we saw a momentary opportunity to slip away to the mountains. We had a late flight on Friday night so everyone could work a full day. We jumped in the car and headed to Dallas to pick up our oldest son. I grabbed some nuts to eat on the way figuring that we would eat supper at the airport.
Between Kaufman and Seagoville, I popped a nut into my mouth and bit down. It made a crunching sound, but not the right one. It did not hurt, but it surprised me. I reached into my mouth and pulled out a fragment of my tooth. It was my right, back, bottom molar. The remaining tooth was sharp as a needle. I thought about the problem. As we neared Seagoville I had Cindy exit and head to the drug store. I grabbed some tooth filling repair compound and hoped for the best.
I got the airport and struggled to get through dinner. Each bite was accompanied by a sharp stick in my gum as if I was biting my gum every time I closed my mouth. I went and found a mirror and placed the material in my tooth and then held my mouth closed for a couple of hours. We arrived in Utah and headed to the mountains. My repair job did not work. It fell out immediately.
Breakfast was agony and I knew I could not last the 3 more days until I could get back to Athens. I went to the concierge desk and they connected me with a dentist that saw patients on Saturdays. I dressed to go ski and got to make a good run. Then, I headed back to town and my appointment. The dentist was friendly and quickly buffed my tooth and removed the sharp cutting edges. He told me to see a dentist when I got home, (which I have). Then I drove back to the slopes and continued skiing. I missed nearly three hours of skiing on what all the locals said was the best day of skiing of the season (fresh snow, bright sun and relatively warm).
The nut was not worth all the trouble and the pain. If I could have known then, what I know now, I would have avoided the nut. I think lots of trouble in life is like this. We simply don’t see the ramifications of our actions. We don’t see deeply. We don’t slow down enough to consider. I’ve too often been at the end of a long chain of events in people’s lives in which a simple choice lead to a disastrous result. Considering you choices wisely (and don’t eat any nuts on the way to the airport).