and you thought you had a bad day ...

this in from my brother.

as background, he essentially is little buddha. nothing bothers him outwardly, nothing disturbs him. he's spent nearly all of his life living in psychological maelstroms, some of them by his own choosing.

once when we were kids i held him down and began very lightly tapping on his sternum. i wanted him to admit/confess/say/lie about something that i don't remember now. what i do remember is i sat and tapped, very lightly, for something like half an hour. i tapped long enough that my hand swelled and my knuckles bled. i finally stopped.

he had beaten me with the very ultimate in passive resistance and using the force of your opponents against them. he was probably 7 years old, give or take.

as an adult, really, he's only gotten more so. his definition of tourture is, "anything that provides discomfort without giving you any hint as to when it's going to end."

which should set the stage for this -- a problem tooth he had suddenly erupt over the weekend.

***

Had that wisdom tooth pulled. It turns out that essentially you can't numb an infected nerve.

This was easily the most painful medical procedure I've ever had done. I was crying before I even knew I was crying. It was terrible.

{...}

I was writhing in the chair and making guttural noises.

The only composure I was able to keep was not bolting for the door, or beating the dentist senseless with pliers. It was terrible. I am still shaking a bit.