boy jobs and girl jobs

I had a 6-month teeth cleaning and check-up yesterday.  I know everyone who just read that is wholly engaged now. 

So yes, a routine thing.  It so happens, though, that my dental hygienist is a man. 

Our dental office has three hygienists that I know of, and the other two are women.  I had been going to one of the women, but at some point, I needed to reschedule, and was scheduled with - let's call him - "Guy", who was new to the office.  I remember the scheduler asking me, "Are you okay that the hygienist is a man?"

"Uhm, yeah, sure", I replied.  But I guess it might be uncomfortable for some who are accustomed to a female hygienist.  Why should it matter?  Yes, it is a somewhat intimate procedure, I suppose.  It's not a profession that ever appealed to me.

And Guy is good at what he does.  He's also quite personable, which can be annoying in a dental situation.  In fact, everyone in the office, dentists included (there are 3 of those too), is quite friendly.  It's annoying because they're making interesting conversation while sticking instruments in my mouth.  Guy was talking about the local housing market after I'd told him we were clearing out our house and thinking of downsizing.  All I could respond with was, "aaaugh hhnnn" and "hckk kknng" and the like. 

He noticed the little "zit" I have on my gum at the site of my recent apicoectomy, or retrograde root canal I had back in March.  Then the (female) dentist came in, had a look, and diagnosed an infection and prescribed me some antibiotics.  Yuck.  I have a follow-up with the oral surgeon soon, so I can ask, "Dude, what's this?"

< This is not a picture of  MY gum zit, but close enough...


I had googled the zit thing when it first showed up.  As usual, when googling for medical answers, I learned that my gum zit was a normal part of the healing process or something that would kill me any day now. 



Also curious about the dental profession, I did a bit of googling there, and learned that female dentists account for about one third of dentists while male hygienists account for a little less than three percent of hygienists.  Guy is in a relatively small group.


Do you care what gender your dental hygienist is?  Do you have a gender preference when selecting a doctor or dentist?  

what's in a headshot?

Magnum and I went to a movie.  We went to see "Alpha".  I saw the trailer and thought it would either be really cheesy or pretty good.  After watching it, I'd say... it was a little bit of both.  There were definitely some plot holes, and I'm not one who can easily turn a blind eye to plot holes.  But I think it's getting decent reviews.  I'd characterize it as "'Ice Age' for a slightly older crowd".  But it was an okay way to kill a couple of hours on an overcast afternoon, especially since I wasn't really expecting much.  Escape-movie day.

It was a busy week for me, which is nice, but I was glad to have a day with no appointments.  I'm sure everyone reading this knows that today was August SAT test day.  Right?

I've been thinking that I should change my profile pic on the tutor website.  My hair is different now than what's in the photo.  I wondered how much of a role the profile pic plays when someone goes there to seek a suitable tutor.  I've honestly looked at a few in the mix and thought, "that tutor needs to upload a better photo!"

As for me, I mainly try to look like a "normal" person.  Knowledgeable but approachable, y'know?  And I'll make a slight confession here.  When I was deciding on a profile pic, I was looking at a couple of contenders and picked the one where I thought I looked the most Asian.

There, I said it.  It's because of the stereotype of Asians being smart and disciplined - I thought I might make that work in my favor.

Let the world know that  I've never set foot on Asian ground and am as 'merican as they come.  And besides, my Asianness is Filipino, which I don't think counts on the high achiever stereotype scale.  But thanks for the genes, Mom.

But I do sometimes wonder what factors and how much weight tutees put into their searches.  Especially with the online thing going, zip code no longer matters.  I got my answer this week... well, one answer.

A mom texted me to set up a second session with her daughter.  She said her daughter liked me and asked the mom what made her choose me.

"You look a lot like her piano teacher, whom we love!"

Piano teacher, whoever you are, thanks for the face.