To the kind man sitting next to me in the waiting room at the Dentist’s office: You commented on how beautiful you thought my engagement ring was while we were waiting together this afternoon. I smiled and mumbled a half-assed thank you and just stayed quiet. I’m very sorry if this came off as rude or unappreciative of your friendly and nice words, I get really horrible anxiety before all of my dental appointments and I was trying to keep as calm as possible while waiting. I really did appreciate your sweetness. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to talk more because you seemed like such a nice person. —Anti-Dentite
This article appears in Sep 20-26, 2012.