Was That… A Joke?!

In the 1980s, when I first got a job out of college, I didn’t have a regular doctor or dentist. My mother worked as a receptionist/secretary for a dentist in the city, so she just fit me into his scheduled appointments. 

After one of my cleanings by the doctor’s hygienist, a cavity was found that needed filling. The hygienist applied a preliminary topical numbing agent; the doctor would later numb me with Novocaine. The doctor came in to do this work. With him was another dentist from a different office in the same building. They had been shooting the breeze and were just continuing their conversation while my doctor was preparing me.

One of the last steps he took was to put on a pair of latex gloves before actually working on me, which was a relatively new practice. Seeing this, the other dentist piped up with:

Other Dentist: “So, Dr. [Dentist], do you have AIDS or does he?”

I could hardly protest, because I was all numbed up. But I made it a point to tell my mom. She casually dismissed it, but I told her that for my next appointment, if that other doctor was present that I would be leaving.