I am in a dental office and I am a dental assistant. I am one of three. I am waiting to go in with the next patient and assist the dentist who is a very old, plump and a mildly senile Anthony Hopkins. When I finally go in I see that Hopkins has the most exquisite nose I’ve ever seen and I fall in love with his nose. I am seduced. He must notice this because he begins to flirt with me. Over an oral examination with a patient I become involved with Anthony Hopkins. He has invited me to his home to share Thanksgiving. He has not invited the other dental assistants. In his home are three of his grandchildren, all adult women, his son, and his daughter in law. We have a lovely thanksgiving meal and then we go to sit in the living room. Anthony nods off to sleep, his head falling back, and his mouth full open and making saliva gurgling sounds. It is then that I see he is kind of too old for me. He wakes up and begins to flirt with me again and this time he kisses me. I get sight of his nose and forget he is too old. He falls back to sleep, wakes up, and falls back to sleep a few more times. He then removes from his pocket a check for me for my work as a dental assistant. I assume because he likes me it will be a lot of money. I walk away before I open the check and look at the amount and see that he has given me a check made out to another assistant. I also make note of the amount (270.00) and still convinced I will get more I return to Anthony, and explain that he has given me the wrong check. He looks shocked and embarrassed. He goes into his pockets looking for my check and in doing so I can see he’s got loads of cash in his pockets. He hands me my check, and again I walk away before opening it. I am in the kitchen when I open it and see that it is even less money (70.00) and I’m pissed off and feel used. Right then I decide to go back in and confront him. He is asleep again. I go through all of his pockets and take whatever cash I find. I go back to the van that is waiting for me outside to drive me home. His three daughters are taking me home. One is driving, one is sitting in the first row of seats and the third daughter is lying down in the back. I get into ‘shotgun’ seat. The first thing the eldest daughter who is driving says is: Let me guess, he tried to seduce you and cheated you out of your money.
In part, Diane’s passing marks the end of an era. The end of a time in history when the work in HIV research was experimental and run by mavericks. Diane was a ‘maverick’ in the truest sense of the word. We all were no matter the discipline we worked in. We were trailblazers. Diane was a complex woman. If you didn’t come to know her she was just a tall British woman who put the fear of God in you. She was pragmatic, demanding, and proudly British, even though she confided in me that she felt much more American than British. Diane liked things just so. An inch either way would be enough for her to voice a strong opinion. Opinionated women can often be alarming, but in Diane I found a heroine. I admired and looked up to Diane. She was no-nonsense. I can remember her calling patients into her office for pelvic examinations with a loudly overheard: Let’s have a look-see, or a get those feet up in the stirrups. I am sure that had she been a man she’d have been reported into oblivion, but
Comments