Last week I had the sweetest patient. A young boy who asked lots of questions. It was one of those times when you don't want to squelch curiosity, but at the same time you just really wish he'd quit asking questions so you can hurry up and get your job done. I work at an orthodontic office as a chairside assistant. During the summer it gets pretty busy and when my patient is talking, I'm not able to work.
With this patient I was half entertained, and half straining to stay polite. I'd been running behind all day due to several patients needing more work than they had scheduled for. While I enjoyed talking with this patient, he was making it difficult to catch up with the schedule. I was relieved when he was finally quiet for two minutes put together! As I was inserting the wire through his bands and brackets he started talking again. My hands instinctively moved away to allow him to talk.
"You have beautiful eyes."
I melted. I still tried to hurry the task at hand along, but I no longer had to work to reign in my temper. Four simple words and a random 11 year old had made life a little easier for me. The part I find fascinating? He probably forgot completely about it the minute he walked out of the office. I'm still grateful for it nearly a week later. I'm even posting an entire blog post about it!
So if anyone wants to know what I'm thankful for this week, it's for that little kid and his penchant for talking. Sometimes those things we see as being in the way turn out to be the blessing.
Good night world!
SingingGem
