Recently I met a guy from Bangledesh. He’s maybe the happiest, most appreciative guy I’ve met in a long time. He constantly smiles, he points out the beauty of the day, tells me how wonderful everything is. And he says it all with so much sincerity.
“Hello Dr. Mark. Man how great is everything today? Isn’t it a beautiful day to be alive?”
Well, yeah. Now that I think abut it, it is a great day to be alive.
One day I got to thinking about Bangledesh. Where exactly is it? How many folks live there? Well hold onto your personal space because Bangledesh is a country the size of South Carolina. It borders India on one side and Myanmar on the other. And 160+ million people live there. In a country about the size of our state.
Yikes!
Reliable power, drinking water, air conditioning, transportation, and basic government services are all very unrelaible in Bangledesh. Things that we take for granted every day. One would think the average person in South Carolina (hey there’s only five million of us) has so much more to be thankful for than the average guy from Bangledesh. And yet this guy, this guy from Bangledesh is so happy, so grateful for those things we take for granted. And dentistry? Well modern dentistry isn’t very modern in countries such as Bangledesh. Much less modern pediatric dentistry like we offer.
So as we approach that most American of holidays, Thanksgiving, what are you grateful for? Do you give thanks before every breakfast, every lunch, every dinner? Suppose you gave thanks every time you turned on the light switch and the lights came on? Now that would be a serious expression of gratitude. I might start doing that because I know people that grew up in a place where the lights coming on when the switch is flipped is a reason to rejoice.
So that’s what I’m grateful for. The modern conveniences of being an average American, and the journey that led me to practice modern pediatric dentistry. Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends, family and of course my pediatric dental family of moms, dads, aunts, and uncles and the little ones that we see and have seen over the years. And big, big, BIG thanks to the team of ladies that do all the work here and make me look good.
And as always, if you or someone you know is looking for a modern (and grateful) pediatric dentist, feel free to give us a call at 877-3232 or stop in and see us. You can find us at 420B The Parkway, just past Michelin HQ near Pelham and 85. Find us on the map by clicking the link below.
