By Marci Fifield – Jan. 21, 2020 - "The worst"
Not long ago I was with a group of friends sitting around, chatting, sharing parental survival stories, etc. During some point of the evening I mentioned that I had a root canal done a couple of days earlier and that it was simply "the worst."
To clarify, the root canal itself wasn't the worst, it was the cold test that the endodontist performed on my teeth and gums that was the worst. Honestly, without exaggerating, it was by far one of the most painful experiences of my life. I'm fairly certain I still suffer PTSD from those few agonizing moments, but let's focus.
Once I finish telling everyone the story about the endodontist operating on my demonic tooth, I realized that I had said "the worst" multiple times. I then looked to my right where one of my friends sat listening to my scary story and I suddenly felt idiotic.
There she was with a scarf wrapped around her head, just starting to grow her eyebrows back after finishing her last chemotherapy treatment. It had been 12 weeks of pain and sickness and misery for her, so I felt like my “worst” really wasn't “the worst” after all.
Fast forward to a week ago when I was on the phone with another friend who told me how she accidentally washed a pull-up diaper in with the rest of her laundry. She claimed that trying to clean the absorbent gel residue out of the washing machine was just "the worst."
Like any other distracted, multi-tasking parent, I too have accidentally misplaced a pull-up (or diaper) in the laundry, and the mess is nothing short of abysmal. However, it's nothing compared to a cold test followed up by a root canal, and it's certainly not cancer. Not. Even. Close.
I didn't say this to my friend though because that would have been rude of me. If someone had told me to chill out about my dental work because it wasn't cancer, it wouldn't have made my experience any less painful, and I probably would have forced them to hold blocks of ice on their own gums until they cried. It also wouldn't have cleaned up the pull-up explosion left on all my friend's clothes and inside the washing machine. Which, by the way, takes a stupid amount of time to do.
We all have our “worst.” The worst part of the day, the worst part of dental work, the worst part of our year, etc. So, don't be a jerk and compare struggles with anyone because really, it's “the worst.”
About Nut Mother…
“I’m a wife and a mother with depression and a warped sense of humor. I have a little bit of ADD wandering inside my head as well. The ADD portion keeps me bouncing around from one subject to another so it’s best not to expect consistency from me.” – Marci Fifield, Headliner Columnist