An apparently extraneous memory flashed in my mind one night on Grande Island. When I was 27 and waiting for my turn in the dentist's clinic, a mother came out and requested me and another young man waiting for his turn to hold down her son's head, arms, and legs while the dentist forcibly extracted his tooth, since her son was most unwilling to undergo the ordeal.

At the time that this happened, because it was so sudden and urgent, the young man and I had no choice but to follow. We held down the boy and of course the tooth got extracted. During the process, however, I observed that I was performing an anti-human rights act (although waiting for the boy to acquiesce would naturally have taken forever). I still remember this episode, and, I am sure, so does the boy, who is now a grown man, especially if he is the reflective type.

As to the dentist, the mother, and the young man, I am certain that they have absolutely no memory of this at all.