As some of you might have read I visited the dentist last Friday and had an interesting time. You can read that post here. I returned today. This time they were going in to clean the left side of my mouth. While I waited I took in a National Geographic article about the rapid development of Dubai . 
If you ain’t heard already, Dubai is nuts!
Dubai got me thinking about globalization just as the dentist strolled in with mask and gloves on. My dentist is either Isreali or Arab, I’m not sure which, I confess racial ignorance. Just like Stephen Colbert, I don’t see color.
He’s a soft spoken man and a good dentist, however, especially with his mask on, it’s hard to decipher his broken english. His assistant is a Chinese woman who doesn’t speak any english at all. They communicate with each other through head-nods and hand gestures. I went through the whole visit in pracitcal silence. And loved it!
I hate small talk with the dentist. I figure it’s an uncomfortable situation for both of us; being that his hand is in my mouth and drool is running down my cheek. What’s there to say outside of if I have a cavity or not? The last dentist proceeded to name every one of his clients that also worked in television after I told him what I did. I want to get the damn thing over with, not discuss crappy TV shows that I don’t watch much less have worked on.
My new dentist doesn’t waste words. I prefer that.
So there I am, under the glare of the light, goggles over my eyes, looking like a total fool, with Dubai on my mind.
The World’s Largest Indoor Ski Slope.
The World’s Tallest Hotel.
The World’s Largest Shopping Mall.
Soon-to-be the World’s Only Artificial Islands Made to Look Like The World.
Soon-t0-be the World’s Largest Amusement Park.
It’s kinda the anti-Mecca for the wealthy and fabulous. A shinning example of capitalism in the Middle East. 80% of the population is an immigrant workforce. And exploited. Earning on average $5 dollars a day, while wealth flows into the country by the fucking boatload and the buildings break through the clouds.
I would love to travel to Dubai one day to see all this madness for myself.
But right now I don’t think I’d have the guts to go. That’s an ignorant comment, I know, but it’s the truth.
This point in time I would be afraid to travel to the Gulf; you wouldn’t catch me dead in the Middle East. (pun painfully intended)
Sitting there with my lips swollen and my eyes watery, my dentist and his assistant tinkering in my mouth, the sound of scraping enamel in my ear, I start thinking about Michael Jackson. 
The King of Pop now lives in Dubai. Peter Pan himself.
He’s not afraid.
What does that say about me?
They finish up and I rinse and thank him for his time. We shake hands and as I walk out the door I hear him greet the next patient. He could be Iranian or Isreali. My dentist. America’s “enemy” or” friend”. I could care less. My ivories are looking good.
I hit the street just as a bus chugs pass with an advertisement for Courtney Cox’s new show, Dirt. Sheep graze on the blue pasture of the sky. The sun descends towards the horizon, hinting at amber tones, ending the day on the edge of America.
The world is shrinking, I realize as the novacaine wears off. It’s just fireflies in a jar.
“if you’re a man, Los Angeles is where you hang it up and
