Living word by word: great collar experiment winding up

So it's Holy Wednesday, meaning it's the last day of Lent that I wouldn't be wearing my collar anyway in Holy Week, and the line-up of the morning was this: a visit with a family wishing to join the congregation, a visit to the dentist because I cracked a molar on Monday, followed by a funeral. I had to explain at the first two destinations why I was dressed in a funereal fashion. At the dentist's office, it led to the following exchange with the hygenist:

"So. . .you're a priest?"

"I'm a pastor."

"Are you Catholic?"

"Uh, no, Lutheran."

"Oh. . . do the Catholics have women priests?"

"No. They still don't."

"Oh. . . .I was rasied Catholic."

Is it just me, or is it stunning that someone raised in the Roman Catholic church could be so removed from it now that they don't even know where Rome is with women's ordination? Is the church really that far off the radar for people, even people raised with some faith background? Wow.

Needless to say, any serious dental work is going to have to wait until next week. Hopefully the pain that has been on-again/ off-again with this tooth will hold off that long too.