Teaching Him The Horrible Tooth

(My mother, my little brother, and I are waiting in the dentist’s office. On the coffee table is a book full of pictures of different dental diseases. One of them is particularly graphic photo of a man with a thick long mustache, and rotted through, brown teeth. I show this picture to my little brother.)

Me: “See, if you don’t brush your teeth, your mouth will look like THIS!”

Little Brother: “Ah! No!”

(My little brother hides his eyes, trying to get away.)

Me: “Look at it; look at it!”

Little Brother: “No! Mom!”

Mom: “Stop scaring your brother.”

Me: “But I’m only trying to teach him to brush his teeth.”

Mom: “…really?”

Me: “Really.”

Mom: “Okay, fine…”

(I scare my little brother with the picture until he cries. Ten years later, he’s never even had a cavity!)