Really?

Greetings,

I hope everyone survived the hot summer here in Florida. I just returned from an implant course down in Miami. I have taken a ton of implant courses over the years, but none of them actually let me place an implant on a live patient. I am pretty good at placing them in plastic models, but that really doesn't translate into placing them on a patient.

I have had this bug to put in a few, and this is hopefully going to allow me to gain some confidence. I really have no plans on doing anything complicated, but I figured I have about 10 to 15 patients a year that would be considered "straight forward." Next month's class will be my first, and frankly I am terrified. I will let you all know how it goes.

On a side note, if you haven't done a segway tour, you need to. A segway is one of those stand-up, two-wheeled peoplemovers that you sometimes see police officers riding. We did the 2.5 hour tour in St. Augustine not too long ago, and it was a total blast. Not only was it educational, but I felt like a 10-year-old again zooming around on that thing. They look a little intimidating at first, but it takes all of five minutes to become an expert on them.

Something has been gnawing at my brain the last few days. How do catchphrases get started? Who actually gets to start them? Do they get paid? There has to be a great satisfaction in knowing that everyone in the world gets sucked into using them. The latest catchphrase I've noticed, is..."Really?" A year ago this time, I don't remember anyone saying, "Really?"

I even catch myself doing it. If someone cuts me off on the road, I yell, "Really?" If anyone does anything that seems remotely questionable, you say, "Really?" How does this happen? In the 60s people said "groovy" when something was great. That faded away only to be replaced by "cool." Someone had to start the phrase or the expression, whatever it is.

Basically, I want to be the one who starts the next one. I don't even know how to go about it. Do I email the president? Or in his case, text him? Is there some "catchphrase" executive board that aprroves the phrase, then passes it on? Maybe there is a media contact person that has the title of "catchphrase spreader," I don't know. My goal is to replace "cool" or "awesome" with "static."

For example, if my daughter tells me, "Dad, I made all A's on my report card," I would respond with, "Wow, that is static!" You may see a nice car go by and just say, "static." I think it has a lot of uses, and its very versatile in different situations. Is anyone feeling me on this? It can have uses in dentistry as well. For instance, "Static Veneers!" Of course, you can only use this once the phrase catches on, or it wouldn't make much sense. There can be static jeans and static parties! You can have a static day! If I can only get this to the right person or people, it would be static! I am hoping that most of you will help me out with this, but I know some of you are saying to yourselves,

"static.......really?"

Have a static week,

Scott