Redneck

While we were in the process of looking at apartment in New Jersey (more space for less money) we stopped in for some good ole' fried chicken at KFC. I bit down on a nice crunchy chicken strip and right then Matt's accusations became true and I could no longer hide it: I am a redneck from Price, Utah. Well, Matt married me so he chose redneck; I didn't have a choice. You see, I was born without a left lateral incisor. First I had an UGLY gap, then a fake tooth hooked on my braces, retainers, and most recently the two teeth adjacent to the missing tooth (a bridge) and now I am back to the UGLY gap. That bridge gave way that fateful day...if only I had known how fateful it was really going to be I would not have laughed when it happened. We went on from KFC, tooth in pocket, to see the last apartment of the day...OUR apartment. It is a beautifully renovated one bedroom that is bigger and 500 dollars cheaper than our place in Manhattan. Our new landlord was the first person I had to talk to without my tooth. You can imagine...or maybe you can't, whatever. Anyway, I am on day 8 without my tooth. Since then I have had to learn to go about my business not smiling for nobody (I have to really concentrate on not talking like a redneck although I look and sound like one when the air goes through that gap when i speak, sometimes I slip). Yes, I even went to work all week. Luckily I only see my two co-workers and my boss. They laugh at me...and pity me I think. I told my boss, who is very weary of mine and Matt's Razor kick scooters that we ride around everywhere, that I crashed and knocked my tooth out. She didn't think it was very funny...but my co-workers did. Even more shocking to me than the duration of time I have had to wait for the dental lab to get my custom "flipper" made (I am back to the retainer with a tooth stage) is the fact that my dental team (yes, at the place I use to work), in the process of trying to temporarily bond the old tooth back on, sucked it into the suction tube and could not retrieve it!!! I am not joking. Matt tried to make something for me at school but it didn't work. Tomorrow is our 2 year anniversary and I get my flipper after work; it better fit!