I’ve been going to this dentist for several years. Today, I had a dental appointment for a root canal. This was fairly important because it’s the first step toward replacing a broken tooth. As usual, before I sat down in the waiting room, I perused the magazines for something to read while I waited. This time, I noticed a magazine I’d never seen there before: The Philadelphia Trumpet. A quick scan of the articles lead me to conclude that it’s a pro-Trump, religious fundamentalist screed (though, as it turns out, the name is just a coincidence). Still, it set off alarm signals. Either my dentist is a Trump supporter or a religious fundamentalist (or both). Almost as bad, he has very poor judgement to allow such a controversial publication in the front of his office. There were multiple issues of this magazine covering several months, so it wasn’t something someone had just dropped off.
As my blood pressure rose, I went to his receptionist and calmly asked her if he’s a Trump supporter. She said she didn’t know because they had a rule against discussing politics in the office. I explained to her that it was important to me, that I wanted know immediately before I spent any more money there, and that if he was, I would be leaving immediately and would never be back. She volunteered to go find him and ask him to talk with me. I waited a few minutes and he finally came out of his office.
Our conversation was fairly short, civil, and, summarized, went like this:
He said he had not voted for Trump but had not voted for Hillary either and he admitted to being a Republican. I felt he was leaving something out so I asked: “are you pro-choice or a Forced Birther?”
He said, “Now you’re going to walk out. I’m pro-life.”
I said, “You’re right, I’m gone.”
As I walked back to the reception area, he followed me and said, “7-month-old babies are being killed.” I asked him if he’d ever even read Roe v. Wade and why didn’t he know that was illegal except in the direst of circumstances where the mother was in danger of dying or the fetus was already dying. He said, “it’s happening.” I didn’t want to argue with someone who’s an idiot and should know better, so I simply said, “you’re a Forced Birther and I’m finished with you.”
Now I have to find a new dentist.