“Every time I come here it’s different."

“No charge,” said the teenybopper behind the counter at Q-Dental.
I just had my teeth cleaned, a prophylaxis.
“You hafta be kidding,” I said. “There’s always a copay.”
“Nope; you have unlimited cleaning coverage.”
“Not that I know of,” I said. “Twice a year, and I do four times a year.”
They called my insurance, MVP.
“$240 per year, and after that Blue Cross.”
“My Blue Cross dental insurance is a pittance. I always pay the difference.”
Why argue with know-it-all teenyboppers?
I walked out, uttering “Every time I come here it’s different. What will it be next time?”
I switched to Q-Dental after my Transit retirees group, an arm of Amalgamated Transit Union, negotiated reduced pricing for dental work at Q-Dental.
I had been using a private dentist for eons. He was nearing retirement, so refused to modernize. No way was he investing in digital X-ray equipment.
It was the first time I heard a typewriter in years; DING! His secretary was typing ledger-cards for billing.
NO WAY was he computerizing his office. Their copier was the only technology they had.
This was the guy who extracted my wisdom-teeth long ago. At least he’d kept up with recent dental equipment, like drills.
But our retiree group negotiated reduced pricing with Q-Dental.
I had to tell them, after which they dragged out their giant fee-book to figure my copay.
At that branch I was probably their only Transit retiree customer.
It seemed like their retiree pricing eventually was forgotten. Like Q-Dental introduced even lower pricing for everyone.
I had no idea what was going on, but apparently I switched to senior pricing.
Mention Transit retiree pricing and the teenyboppers become befuddled.
You have to remember one thing about teenyboppers: they say anything just to get you outta their office — so they can go back to their donuts.
Every time I’ve gone to Q-Dental, different teenyboppers were behind the counter.
Try to explain anything and they go blank.
The only person I continually see at Q-Dental is my actual dentist, although four years ago it was someone else.
Even my hygienist changed. Over the past 10 years I’ve had at least four.
Yesterday was a new hygienist, but she was really good. She even liked my sick jokes: e.g. “there is no plaque in the Dental Hall of Fame.”
I hope I get her again next time, but how much will it be?
I bet there’s a copay, plus a tortured attempt to get me out of their office.

• “Transit” equals Regional Transit Service, the public transit-bus operator in Rochester, NY, where I drove transit-bus for 16&1/2 years (1977-1993). My stroke October 26th, 1993 ended that. I retired on medical-disability. I recovered fairly well.
• The “Amalgamated Transit Union” is a nationwide union for transit employees.