Out here in the woods
In a village nearby I was introduced to (let’s call them) the Higgins family - the bottom of the social barrel, slack-jawed farm hands, timber cutters, railway workers, road gangsters - or living off the state but always drunk on a Saturday night.The men would beat their wives and children as a matter of course then went to church on Sunday.
There was another common thread in all of them – they were all missing their teeth. Now I know you’re thinking missing teeth means only one or two gaps, like a picket fence with a few planks missing, but you’re wrong. In these farming parts of England, having no teeth is your 21st birthday present from the family. All you teeth are taken out, except the big molars at the back. This way you’ll not get toothache when you’re on a far off farm. It also saves future costs. The molars stay in the back of your mouth for chewing meat.
“If you’ve got to spend money at the dentist it must be on these and not on the pretty teeth in the front. Then one day, when you’re rich enough, you can get false teeth to wear to church,” I was told.
Labels: abuse, blue collar workers, church, dentures, false teeth
posted by Cindy-Lou Dale @ Tuesday, October 07, 2008
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