Commercial dentistry?

The other day, I went to the dentist for the first time in about 8 years. What struck me (other than relief that all my teeth were still in excellent condition) was the commercialization of the industry.

First of all, there were the obvious signs, such as the free Crest brand samples of floss and toothpaste I was given, and the prominent Oral B electric toothbrush display on the shelf in front of the chair. But even the fact that the dentist says you should come in every year for a check-up smacks of commercialism.

No doctor has ever said that I should come in every year just to make sure everything is okay. Are my teeth more important than the rest of my body? Obviously I don't need a dental check-up every year, because I've had two in the last ten years, and everything's been fine. My wife hadn't been to the dentist in a few years either, and her teeth were also fine. I can't imagine that dentists actually care enough about everyone's teeth to spend the time and resources making absolutely sure that everyone's teeth are in great condition every year.

The only logical conclusion, therefore, is that these yearly check-ups are a good way for dentists to make money.

The aggressive "excuse me"

I was a little surprised this morning when a coworker, who I met in a narrow hallway, said "Excuse me" and I responded "Okay." Wouldn't it have made more sense for me to say "Oh no problem", or "No, excuse me!"?

When I thought about it more, I realized that I've always used the phrase "Excuse me" in an agressive way. I use it to politely say "Get out of my way", as in, "Excuse me! Pardon me! Coming through!"

I presume that my coworker was using the phrase in the more common sense of "I'm sorry that I'm in your way. Please don't think badly of me." Interesting that my personality chooses the more agressive interpretation.

I could do better than that!

Sometimes, when I'm watching a movie/listening to a song/reading an article I think to myself, "I could do better than that!" Then I stumble across something I've created in the past and realize that it's okay, but not great. So I developed a theory that while I'm not the most promising artist out there, I'm at least reasonably talented.

As I get more life experience, my level of talent may increase slightly, but even if it doesn't, the question I ask myself is, "Am I talented enough to be a professional filmmaker (or singer, or writer, etc.)?" The last time I thought "I could do better than that" was while watching the TV show Star Trek: Voyager. Voyager isn't destined to become a classic, but it's decently well made, and it ran for seven seasons!

If I could make a TV show as good as Voyager, could I make it in the television industry?