The Long-Haul Driver Pt. 01

For most of my life I have had a fascination with braces. It began sometime in my teens. As the internet became more widespread, companies began to market their products to many people who they didn't have access to before. Many companies started up marketing unusual products.

One company that really caught my attention had started selling orthodontic products. What really caught my attention was their fake braces. Nobody really knew that I had a braces fetish.

The job I had at that time was a night job working as a receiver at a large national grocery store. It was an ideal job for someone with my fetish, as I could wander all over the store before closing time delivering pallets to the various departments. There was usually someone shopping who was wearing braces. Since most of the floor staff are part-time, I got to see most of them during the week. Unfortunately, none of the floor staff had braces when I started. From time to time, the company would move management from one store to another for training or because someone had quit or moved to another position.

One day there was a notice on the staff board that the company had a new assistant manager coming to the store. His responsibilities would include my department as well as the day to day operations in the store. He was a slim, good looking young man in his mid 20's. He had a nice smile with teeth that looked like they were straight. I would see him around the store, but never really had to work with him because my department didn't really need management around. After several weeks, the manager decided that the assistant managers would stay later in the day to supervise the store during the holiday season because we were staying open longer hours.

One evening, Troy, the assistant manager came down from the office without his normal smile. I figured that it had been a busy day for him and that he was just feeling tired. When I brought out the next load of groceries he was talking to the deli supervisor about the new dental plan that the company had set up for the full-time staff. The part of the conversation that got my attention is that the plan covers most of the cost of orthodontic treatment and that the part-time staff would be getting a dental plan that covers some orthodontic costs, but would not be as good. As I am passing them, the middle aged female deli supervisor who's name is Sherri, asks Troy, "I see that they are opening an orthodontist office upstairs. Is that because of the new dental plan?"

"The insurance company that handles the dental plan made the head-office a deal that would benefit both companies. The store gets more customers coming through the front doors, the orthodontist office gets a large space at cheap rent and the insurance company gets a better rate from the orthodontist. The insurance owns part of a national orthodontics chain. The store employees can get a better deal too if they are treated here," replied Troy.

"They are just about ready to open. They have everything set up already. Part of my job has been to get ready for the opening day. They needed some people from management to check out the layout before they can open. Since I was the person from this store to do the inspection, they decided that I should spend this afternoon being treated like a patient. I had X-rays taken and impressions done. Since I was the only 'patient' today, they had my dentist send over a copy of my records. The orthodontist was able to give me a treatment plan as soon as the computer model of my teeth was done. She said that my teeth are in great shape but that there are a couple of small things that can be corrected. She suggested that since she had the time today, she could start treating me. She didn't have any ceramic brackets in stock yet, so I agreed to let her put on metal brackets instead. She did tell me that metal brackets are more comfortable compared to the ceramic ones. She was going to start with just the bottom teeth but I told her to do both sets today. Tell me what you think!" Then he gave a big smile. Up until now he hadn't really been opening his mouth very much while talking, so the metal brackets hadn't been visible.

Sherri gave a quick look around and with a small smile and said, "Come into the back so that I can take a better look."