This Thanksgiving I am counting my blessings.  From my families to my office and the friends that I keep.  I am humbled daily.  I am a person filled with gratitude.  But this November has been very difficult for almost everyone around me, myself included.  This month’s upset results of the election, the pressure to be merry because of the holiday season, and the financial stress that most people feel, make it hard to be “happy”.   Not to mention, some hearts were broken and my lip got a lopsided injection from my son's head.  Within two weeks, I had five patients with fractured teeth.  It’s that time of the year when I’m doing more “witchcraft” than any other season.  (I was at a seminar and the speaker considered root canal therapy to be witchcraft.  It then became a joke amongst dentists.)

Even as our president was giving a speech about the sun shining again after Hillary's loss, Joe Biden was looking upward for the sun.  It’s hard to find that silver lining.  Canadian website for residency crashed after the U.S. election.  But since they need healthcare providers, I was told I had a good chance of getting in almost immediately.  I guess that could be good news for me.  But I have no interest in moving north.  I hear their winters get below zero Fahrenheit.  I get cold at 60 degrees ergo, that’s not a viable option for me.  I can only stand the cold temporarily.  Freezing to death is not appealing.   Maybe I need to research more on hypothermia.

I’ve always thought to be kind to my fellow human beings.  We’re supposed to help one another.  Every year I volunteer or give to charity.  And every year I get something back in one form or another.  We had a sedation patient getting ready to go home.  We were giving his mom instructions on how to take care of him.  Then suddenly behind me, came a groggy voice, “See, I told you they like me here.”  We all turned to the patient and in an echo, my whole office replied, “Of course.”  Truly, he is a nice person, just misunderstood.  We gave him time and space to get to know and respond to us.  Sometimes he is not responsive.  But that was the effects of his medications, not him.  I think people forget their human courtesy to each other.   Maybe they just need one person to extend it to them first.

This month, I witnessed young love.  It’s amazing to see how eyes can communicate so passionately.  Unfortunately, I think I was standing in the middle of them.  A patient gave birth to her baby boy.  Another patient completed his cancer therapy.  This weekend, one will get married.  So much more happiness than sadness.  Today, I will be focusing on my blessings.  I hope you will enjoy yours.  Thank you for giving me plenty of stories to be happy about.  Have a great Thanksgiving break with your families and friends.

Cheers!

"Hot" Lip
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​I woke up this morning to the news that Donald Trump has won 276 electoral votes.  To say I was sad is untrue.  But I was definitely disappointed.  Amazingly he won with only 46% of Americans voting this year.  (They really should get rid of this electoral college thing.)  According to statistics, most of them were from the rural areas of conflicting states.  They were not “educated”, meaning they did not have a college degree.  They were mostly young white males hoping to succeed as he did.  The stock market went on a roller coaster.  Someone made a comment about all those people losing their pension plan.  But if you think about it, those voters probably don’t have a pension plan.

Donald Trump promised to lower taxes for everybody.  He promised to build a wall.  With whose money?  He believes that grabbing a woman’s “kitten” is okay if you are famous.  I don’t think he’s a complete misogynist.  He loves beautiful women.  He doesn’t put them on a high pedestal, unless you’re Ivanka, but he’s attracted to them.  He takes no responsibilities for his actions as all that he does is reasonable in his mind.  He’s sick and tired of all the political correctness of this country.  He will deport 4 million immigrants.  That’s the whole state of Oregon, Iowa, Utah, Nevada, or even Nebraska.

The stunning results of this election has left millions speechless.  I refuse to think there are that many people who would vote for such a man.  I believe it’s more of a mirage that he presents…no government.  If everyone was to fend for themselves, then we would be “better off”.  But how many deaths by gunshot would have to occur for the law to reverse back?  How many babies have to be born and left behind for the Roe vs. Wade to be appreciated?  These babies need government help to survive.  They didn’t ask to be born.  They were born because this new government took away a woman’s right to her body, even though it was violated.  The idea of populism will backfire as they elected an “elitist” into the world’s highest office positon.  He was born into the wealth.  He only knows of a lavish lifestyle.  Where will he get his understanding of the lower class struggles?  He has demonstrated racism, sexism and all that we teach our children not to be.  A wealthy human being is not an equivalent of a decent human being.  Common courtesy will be a thing of the past.

I live in the Silicon Valley, therefore, I feel like I’m in a bubble.  There were only a handful of people I know who would vote for Trump.  Most were just disgusted by him.  But now we will all have to deal with a new form of government.  For all those less unfortunate who voted for Trump, I sincerely hope he delivers to you what you think will be a better life.  For all the families that he will tear apart, my heart goes out to you.  And finally, for the rest of the world, you are now warned about the new United States.  The American version of Brexit has arrived.