Digging through the trash for a retainer in an Oregon monsoon

It’s been said that friends make the good times better, the bad times more bearable, and in my humble opinion, the weird times funnier.  My best friend (and roommate) has proven this point to me over and over again.  As I was getting ready for bed last night a sinking feeling overwhelmed me as I realized I had taken out my retainer, put it in a paper towel, and then placed it on the kitchen counter.  (Why I thought it was a good idea to remove my retainer in the kitchen is a mystery to me.  I probably wasn’t thinking clearly at 6 in the morning.)  I vaguely remembered clearing off the kitchen counter sometime in the afternoon, and most likely that clearing included the paper-towel-wrapped piece of plastic tooth preservation.

After about 4 minutes of panicking, my better half and best friend calmly told me that we were going to get on our shoes, put on coats, go out to the trash bin sitting on the side of the street, and dig through to find my retainer (which was recently replaced from being thrown away and lost last year).  We walked outside into the typical Oregon monsoon, opened the big green lid, and pulled out the most recent bag of household kitchen trash.  It was quite the scene, complete with Ziploc bags on our hands as “gloves.” 

We dug through the rotten turkey meat, the pesto covered noodles, the eggshells, the soggy paper towels, the glops of yogurt, and other such trashy items.  As disgusting as this all was, I couldn’t help but laugh at the ridiculousness. 

Just as I was losing hope, I found a wadded up paper towel slightly resembling the roof of my mouth.  Retainer obtained.                         

As thrilled as I was to have my retainer back, I was highly disappointed in finding out via google that no, I could not dishwash, bleach, or boil my now more than slightly germy tooth preserver. 

But regardless, I fell asleep laughing.  And I couldn’t help but think that I most likely would have just left my retainer for the garbage man if I hadn’t had the encouragement of a good friend to choose the better route and dig through the trash.  Isn’t that really what friends do?  They help us dig through the trash.  Sometimes that comes in the form of being the one who’s there when the chips are down.  Sometimes that comes in the form of being the one to confront you when no one else will.  Or sometimes it just literally means digging through the trash to find a lost retainer.

I am reminded of this in Ecclesiastes, “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work; if one falls down, his friend can help pick him up.  But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up.”  (4:9-10)

I am thankful for those friends who help me up.  Or help me dig through the trash for a retainer in an Oregon monsoon.