Unpleasant surprises

To all the doctors out there: please, please tell us, your nervous patients, what you are going to do before you do it!  I was at a new dentist yesterday, and was startled when she began working on my teeth with some vibrating-rushing-water-thing that was NOT particularly comfortable.  Of course, since this is dentistry I couldn't easily ask, what are you doing?  I had to wait until afterwards to ask.  She did a nice job explaining it then, but it was a little late.  I would have liked to know before.

In fact, I think it's almost always true that things are scarier when you don't know what's going on.  Even when what is going on is not that pleasant.  It's not knowing that is the worst, Margaret Atwood wrote in The Handmaid's Tale.  She's right.  The human imagination is too powerful.