1973, March, Pg. 25. From our Readers.

• Author: Michael J. McCarthy

2 Colo.Law. 25

The Colorado Lawyer

1973.

1973, March, Pg. 25.

From our Readers

25Vol. 2, No. 5, Pg. 25From our ReadersFrom the Boulder County Bar Association Newsletter:It Was a Gas

Once again the medical profession has bolted ahead of us slow-plodding lawyer types. The healers started off with a strong central organization, followed up with massive insurance plans to insure payment of their fees and now the dental discipline has incorporated the greatest gimmick of all time---nitrous oxide.

Recently I made an emergency visit to my dentist to have a chipped tooth fixed. I sat down in his plush, soft reclining chair and he inquired with the coyness of a veteran drug dealer whether I would be interested in trying some nitrous oxide while my tooth was being repaired. In explanation of nitrous oxide, he said that it was something like six martinis and that it would make the "restoration" more pleasant. I have never been able to drink that many martinis; my face always dropped into my soup after three. However, I was game to try anything that might make a dentist's office something other than a torture chamber. So with an air of exploration, I assented to the trip.

My dentist placed the mask over my nose, turned on the gas and started smiling. A rush of euphoria overtook my body and the normally unpleasant experience of a dentist's excavating became an idyllic trip. My eyes became fixed on the blinding white light of the dental lamp as it took on new dimensions. The chilling noise of the dentist's drill suddenly was transformed into Beethoven's Fifth and the dental assistant was a young nymph dancing around the room with beautiful hooked instruments and friendly hypodermic needles in her hand. The dentist became an omniscient immortal being whose sharp requests for a piece of cotton, aspirator or water took on magical meaning which I felt must somehow fit into the matrix of life.

The trip went on and my mind began to wander toward the more mundane aspects of my life, namely the practice of law, and several thoughts flashed on my gassed mind. If these medical people can turn trauma into a trip, why are my brothers so far behind? Imagine how far out it would be if law offices were equipped with a supply of nitrous oxide. Picture the nervous divorce client who is in a lawyer's office for the first time---she is crying as...