The Things People Say

Yesterday I had my teeth cleaned.  As the dental technician had her hands in my mouth she went on and on about how terrible it is that adoptions cost so much money and how long they take.  I was stuck, unable to break into the one-way conversation, given that my teeth were busy.  After I sat up and spit, I explained that adoptions take so long because of all of the appropriate checks and balances and how we are not “paying for a baby” (as inferred) but paying for the supplies and staff needed to care for our daughter and the people who are completing paperwork on her behalf.  She insisted that someone was being paid off.  I insisted that I spent months researching agencies and that I am confident that corruption is not a part of Noemi’s adoption experience.  I lied back down satisfied.  The technician returned her hands to my mouth, shook her head and said, “I don’t buy it one bit.  Someone’s making a lot of money.”  And then I bit her.  Well, not really, but I wanted to.  Donovan tells me that my impulse control is improving.