1. Online Appointment for Teeth Cleaning#
Recently, my gums have been bleeding, even when I brush my teeth or just touch my mouth after eating. At first, I was worried that it was gum inflammation, so I quickly put teeth cleaning on my schedule.
On Friday afternoon, I remembered this and immediately picked up my phone to search for teeth cleaning on JD.com. I saw a ranking and blindly chose the top-ranked XX Dental Clinic. The details and reviews looked good, and it was also a chain, so I felt more at ease. With JD Plus and various coupons, it only cost a little over 100 yuan, which was quite cost-effective.
After placing the order, I immediately received a text message, but it didn't mention when to go for the teeth cleaning. I clicked on the order details and saw a confirmation code and expiration date. I just needed to call the phone number on the order to make an appointment.
Maybe it was busy on the weekend, the nearest Wangjing branch called me and said there were only two time slots available on Saturday, 4 PM or 5 PM. I thought about it and decided to go at 4 PM so that I could rest and have dinner afterwards. So, I made the appointment for 4 PM.
2. Teeth Cleaning Process#
I set off at 3 PM on Saturday afternoon and arrived at the hospital. I filled out basic information and created a basic medical record, then sat down and waited for my turn.
After waiting for more than ten minutes, it was my turn. The medical staff led me to take X-rays.
When I saw the X-rays of my teeth, I was quite surprised. The two wisdom teeth at the bottom were almost touching the normal teeth. I need to find time to have them removed.
The dentist who cleaned my teeth was a young man, and there was a female nurse assisting him. He did a simple examination and said that there was a significant difference between the teeth on my left and right sides, with the left side being slightly more severe and having a lot of tartar. I was puzzled because I usually brush my teeth with my right hand, so how come the left side wasn't cleaned properly?
While the dentist was examining, he took a few pictures of my teeth with his phone. I thought to myself that he wouldn't show me the before and after comparison later to show off how clean they were. Then I thought, his phone must be full of these pictures, which must be nerve-wracking. Just as I was daydreaming, the teeth cleaning began.
He put a few things in my mouth, rinsed and scraped while sucking out the blood with another tube. It was especially painful when he cleaned the back teeth, a piercing pain. Maybe the nerves in that area were more sensitive, and I even shed a few tears. The dentist was considerate and told me to raise my hand if it hurt, but I had a strong willpower and didn't raise my hand to interrupt the momentary pain, so the whole process lasted about half an hour.
During the teeth cleaning, there were two pauses to suck out the blood from my mouth. I could see a lot of blood mixed in the tube, which was quite scary.
After it was over, the nurse applied some medicine to my gums and told me not to rinse my mouth hastily. The dentist taught me the correct way to use an electric toothbrush, then added me on WeChat and said he would recommend a water flosser to me. I thought to myself, the sales pitch is starting. But until now, he still hasn't sent it to me, maybe he forgot, or maybe he saw that I'm too poor and lost the motivation to sell.
Finally, I made an appointment for a follow-up visit next Saturday to see if my wisdom teeth have grown out. The dentist also mentioned that he would remove the wisdom teeth. When I heard that, I said no, because having wisdom teeth removed would be painful for several days, so I need to plan it carefully.
3. After Teeth Cleaning#
I went home with the medicine applied to my gums and endured the blood in my mouth for half of the way before spitting it out as soon as I got home.
After teeth cleaning, try to eat less acidic and spicy food to avoid affecting the fragile gums.
Yesterday, after teeth cleaning, I brushed my teeth today and surprisingly, my gums didn't bleed. I didn't experience any bleeding symptoms throughout the day, which made me very happy and in a good mood.
4. Why Do We Hate Sales Pitches?#
When I planned to leave a good review, I noticed an interesting phenomenon in the comments - many people mentioned "not being subjected to sales pitches" when giving positive reviews. I also wasn't subjected to sales pitches and have been frustrated by similar services that involve aggressive sales tactics.
This made me ponder a question: why does everyone dislike this kind of sales behavior?
From my insignificant experience, the sales scenarios I have encountered mainly include:
- Sales pitches from train attendants;
- Sales pitches from roommates knocking on the door during college;
- Sales pitches from street vendors while shopping;
- Sales pitches during services, such as haircuts.
My level of aversion to these sales scenarios has gradually increased. I can understand and tolerate sales pitches from train attendants and classmates because I have some understanding of their situation, and these sales behaviors don't have a significant impact on me. However, when I'm interrupted while shopping by someone unrelated to me, trying to sell me something I have no interest in, and it affects my movement, I consider it a selfish and self-serving behavior. The most unacceptable type is when I have already paid for a service, but it includes "hidden sales pitches" that greatly diminish the service experience. Haircuts are the most common example of this.
Advertising is also a form of sales pitch, and the degree of acceptance varies. For example, I can tolerate the information flow ads on Douban, as I use their product for free and they recommend ads for revenue, which is a reasonable model. However, some ads are hard to accept, such as when I have already purchased a membership for a video streaming site, but they still insert "members-only ads" for me. That is hard to justify.
Therefore, in my opinion, there are two types of sales pitches: one is acceptable because there is almost no cost to oneself, such as free products provided on the Internet; the other is difficult to accept because I have already paid for a service, yet they try every means to extract value from me, stuffing several ads into every crevice. Typical examples include talkative hairdressers, certain video streaming sites, and certain products.
So, going back to the original question, why does everyone hate sales pitches? From my perspective, people dislike not the act of sales pitching itself, but the anger of not receiving the expected service after paying for it. If these dentists were loudly pitching on the street and I just happened to pass by, I naturally wouldn't have any aversion to their sales pitches because they have nothing to do with me. But once I have paid and they continue to pitch to me, it's a completely different story.
Taking it a step further, why is this phenomenon so common?
Part of it is driven by interests, whether it's for money or to meet KPIs. Another part, in my opinion, is a lack of a spirit of contract.
Rousseau once said, "Man is born free, but he is everywhere in chains."
The scenario he described in the social contract theory doesn't exist in our natural state, so we need a social contract. In the social contract, everyone gives up their natural freedom and gains contractual freedom.
However, it seems difficult for this spirit of contract to prevail. To give a simple example, let's talk about home renovation. Those who have gone through home renovation have a deeper understanding of society. There's a joke: if you haven't experienced the beating of society, go for a home renovation, it will make you mature in an instant.
Whether it's a renovation done by acquaintances or hired contractors, in the end, it's highly likely to end up in a mess. Cutting corners and using inferior materials is the norm, and delays and mistakes are common. I establish a contract with the workers, but in the end, they don't fulfill the spirit of the contract, and I don't fully enjoy contractual freedom, resulting in an imbalance between costs and benefits.
And why is it so difficult to strictly adhere to the spirit of the contract? That's another topic.
Hopefully, we can reach a stage where we don't encounter sales pitches during haircuts, at the very least.