(Un)Solicited Conversations…

I was standing around the local аптека waiting for my prescription to be filled, while searching for the secondary product my dentist had determined was necessary for an upcoming appointment, when a man had wandered into my aisle. Apparently, he too was on a search for mouthwash. It was disturbing enough to me that my territory had been violated when, and without warning, the man turned to me and stated, “There are so many choices.”  To which I replied, “Yes there are.” Upon finding what he needed, he quickly picked it off the shelf and bid me adieu by saying, “Good luck.” There was nothing that I could determine as nefarious in this encounter, (nor am I disputing his claim of copious choices, because there was an over abundance of products designed to rinse away all sorts of “blue meanies” from a mouth), but I did ponder why this person felt it was okay to start a conversation with me. After all I was a complete stranger and an introvert at that. As my mind often does, it began to consider past encounters at various locations regarding arbitrary conversations thrust upon me by people I had no relations with. The first conclusion I came to; these people are extroverts. As such they feel the need to engage in conversation when presented with a dilemma. The second conclusion; women tend to not speak directly at any one person, but make general statements out-loud. Not overly cacophonous, but juuuust loud enough for someone close by to decipher. The statements tend to be in question form and usually fall along the lines of, “Why are there so many choices?” or “What am I supposed to be looking for, again?” Conversely men will direct comments at specific individuals (as did the man who invaded my space). This means they are actively engaging the other person into a dialogue. To ignore this afront would be considered just plain rude. It forces the other party into an unsolicited conversation. Which, for some reason, is not considered rude (just social behavior). Usually, my responses start out with something like, “Duh…” And end with, “okay…” So, this last time I got off lucky. The third cogitation incorporated in my thinking process; these people instinctively know when they are in the presence of an introvert and feel obliged to help them by encouraging a discussion. No! Bad extrovert! Stop it…you’re scaring me!  My fourth and final determinate; don’t believe everything you think. Living solely inside your mind, and listening to those voices in your head, can be unwise. As the song goes, “…take a giant step outside your mind”. Which brings me back to why I was standing in that aisle searching for mouth rinse product in the first place.

This is not the first time my denticle doctor (who is actually really good) decided that a mouthwash was in order prior to a procedure. However, the last prescription had determined that turning my mouth black was a good thing. My teeth…my gums…and my tongue. I’m not talking about the happy because I just ate a bag full of licorice jellybeans crepuscular kind of black, but a varnish that settled in, on, around, and between my teeth black. A stygian that refused to go away. If this was my dentist’s way of ensuring a proper brushing and flossing, it worked! Unfortunately, the effort to remove the tinge was to no avail. This stuff stained hard. At no point in my journey to acquire said potion was it ever mentioned to me that this was a possibility, or in my case, a definite causality. Since it was a prescribed item, it had to pass through three people prior to reaching my mouth; the dental hygienist, the dentist, and the pharmacist. You’d think at least one of them might drop this nugget of information, but you’d be wrong. I’m still trying to get that stain off my teeth. Apparently, I need the dentist to do that. So, this time when it was suggested that I pay large sums of money for an item that will darken my dentures, I fought back. Usually, I don’t like to draw too much attention to myself, this was not one of them. The Space Station heard my objection. I think the exact words were, “Hell no!”. So, another oral wash was advocated as the next best replacement.  Because I could not rely on anyone giving me potential side-effect information, I did the research on my own. I found the replacement to be acceptable, available over the counter, and markedly less expensive. Now all I had to do was find it in the sea of antiseptic rinses. Which brings me back to the beginning of this tale. Did I find the aqueous solution? Yes, I did. Did I make it out of the pharmacy relatively unscathed? Yes, I did. Do I hold the extrovert in contempt for having a brief conversation with me? No, I do not. Bless their souls, can’t help themselves if they’re extroverts.