Backroads Picker

After Hick finished his 4th of July feast, he became restless. I suppose he feels obligated to sit at the table until I finish. A situation which could be partially remedied by waiting until I sit down before he buries his nose in the trough. Anyhoo... Hick can never be still. 

"I think I have something in my tooth," he announced, while poking assorted fingers far enough into his mouth to tickle his uvula.

"Dad. Do you want me to get you a toothpick?" Despite not living here, The Pony knows where to find the toothpicks. Which Hick, a 29-year resident, does not.

"Yeah. Get me one."

Then commenced the prospecting with a flexible plastic toothpick. Finally, Hick announced success.

"There it is. It's something black. I think it's a filling! One of them I got not too long ago."

"You mean the three you got in one day, that cost $1000?"

"Yeah. One of them. I'll have to go by the dentist tomorrow."

Hick must be very special. His dentist got him in Monday afternoon, and put a filling in his tooth. Hick did not reveal whether it was one of the recent fillings that failed. [I'm thinking it was old, because of the color of what fell out. These days they use resin, which isn't black/silver.] He gave me the bill. It was $300. It WOULD have been $325 with the x-ray, but because Hick paid "cash," it was discounted to $300.

The discount seemed odd to me. Hick used the debit card to pay. Which is technically like cash. But many businesses charge EXTRA for any type of card payment. I suppose Hick's dentist is happy to get paid all at once, immediately, rather than take a chance on a payment plan, or a check.

Knowing Hick and his contacts, I'm surprised he doesn't have a "tooth guy" in his stable of tradesmen, to do such work for cheap.