The other day, I had to have a crap ton of cavities filled. I blame it on the 2 years of orthodontia, pregnancy, breastfeeding and cancer-treatment. I think I made it out not too terribly, all things considered.

Anyway, that meant I spent a LOT of time listening to the conversations going on over my head, mostly between the dental hygienist and a male tech. At one point, they started talking about their kids and how nervous they were when they brought their new babies home. The hygienist was already on my shit list, having said NOTHING but the most horrible and inane things the entire time (she was a temp, first day there, and I could tell the dentist wasn’t overly thrilled with her either). So I was starting out as a less-than-sympathetic listener anyway when I heard her story about going 20 on the freeway on the way home from the hospital with her new baby.

Out of nowhere, this rage overtook me. I wanted to leap up and shout at her.

Do you even KNOW what my baby made it through before she even was born??? My baby was tough as nails. I didn’t worry for a SECOND about her driving home from the hospital. She had survived and THRIVED after 8+ hours of anesthesia and DAYS of morphine! My baby kicked the SHIT out of labor and was pulled by her head into this world by her daddy! We had bigger things to worry about than freaking driving the speed limit!

I know this is grossly unfair, since I’ve heard many stories just like hers from many normal new parents, but I was surprised by the strength of my defensiveness of my own incredible daughter. Maybe because she is now coming into her own as a person and I can see her strength emerging more? Maybe because this nitwit shared this story immediately after the tech shared his own rather troubling story, and she acted like hers was so SCARY and IMPORTANT? Or maybe it was because I had a LOT of anesthetic in me and I had been getting my face drilled into for 2 hours (that would make most people ragey, I think). It really didn’t help that I couldn’t say anything with all those tools in my mouth, and so couldn’t verbally bitch-slap some perspective into her.

I don’t know where it came from, but its strength surprised me. Some people really, really just don’t understand.