On 12 Nov 2006 09:46:09 -0800, "Ezel Verkrachter"
<[email protected]> wrote:

    >no fake smiles wrote:
    >> A friend from Europe came to stay with me for two weeks and he was
    >> shocked by what he said is the enormous importance that Americans
    >> place on smiling. And teeth. And teeth whitening! He said Americans
    >> are a bunch of smiling idiots. I guess living in the US one gets used
    >> to it and doesn't notice it as much. But the teeth whitening thing he
    >> said was the weirdest and I guess I'd have to agree. Even I have
    >> noticed the unbelievable amount of teeth whitening commercials on TV.
    >> I just couldn't explain to my friend why American culture is so
    >> obsessed with teeth and smiling. Any ideas?
    >http://www.diggersrealm.com/mt/archives/000963.html

Gawd. What a horrible mental image that conjured up:-(

Cheers, Alan, Australia
--
http://loraltravel.blogspot.com/
latest: The Vatican
http://loraldiabetes.blogspot.com/

    >A friend from Europe came to stay with me for two weeks and he was
    >shocked by what he said is the enormous importance that Americans
    >place on smiling. And teeth. And teeth whitening! He said Americans
    >are a bunch of smiling idiots...

Always nice to have a guest with good manners.

Should we combine this thread with the one about Kate Moss's paying for her
boyfriend's dental work?

Bubbles, a living tribute to additives and preservatives
---
"I'm afraid of widths." (Steven Wright)

You are an obvious troll, and not an American. Rather, you are simply
wanting to read some American-bashing and so you created a non-existent
problem. It seems to have worked, because the knee-jerk anti-American
people on this newsgroup readily rose to the occasion. Congratulations.

Now, folks, imagine if an actual American had posted...."I was visited by a
European friend last week and all he could talk about was the poor condition
of European's teeth. Why are European's obsessed with poor dental care?
They MUST be, right, because my "friend" spoke of nothing else. I guess
living here I am "used to" seeing Europeans with poor dental hygiene."

All I would read is how rude and insensitive Americans must be to comment on
someone else's teeth....

Pat in TX

    > Yikes! Maybe this is how Farrah Fawcett caught anus cancer.

She has colon cancer, not "anus cancer." And, you don't "catch" cancer. By
saying that, you are placing blame on a person who is ill. How clever of
you.

Pat in TX

"Pat in TX" <[email protected]> wrote:

    >Now, folks, imagine if an actual American had posted...."I was visited by a
    >European friend last week and all he could talk about was the poor condition
    >of European's teeth. Why are European's obsessed with poor dental care?
    >They MUST be, right, because my "friend" spoke of nothing else. I guess
    >living here I am "used to" seeing Europeans with poor dental hygiene."
I thought that was the main topic of conversation between Americans
who have been to Europe, just as we are obsessed by how big and white
the teeth of Americans are. Do you imply that it is not so?

--
PB
The return address has been MUNGED
My travel writing: http://www.iol.ie/~draoi/

"Pat in TX" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > You are an obvious troll, and not an American. Rather, you are simply
    > wanting to read some American-bashing and so you created a non-existent
    > problem. It seems to have worked, because the knee-jerk anti-American
    > people on this newsgroup readily rose to the occasion. Congratulations.
    > Now, folks, imagine if an actual American had posted...."I was visited by
    > a European friend last week and all he could talk about was the poor
    > condition of European's teeth. Why are European's obsessed with poor
    > dental care? They MUST be, right, because my "friend" spoke of nothing
    > else. I guess living here I am "used to" seeing Europeans with poor dental
    > hygiene."
    > All I would read is how rude and insensitive Americans must be to comment
    > on someone else's teeth....


I tend to agree, Pat,
I'm 76 years old and have always smiled..And no, it is not fake..it is a
sign of friendliness...an unspoken communication. A sign of well being and
warmth...What does it hurt for one to smile? Better than a passive or
grouchy look on one's face.
Good grief, what else can be said against Americans? I think we have been
dumped on enough...most of us are of European ancestory. Let it go, for
heaven's sake! We all occupy this earth; how about sharing and enjoying our
commonalities and differences instead of constant criticism.

--Jena

"no fake smiles" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:8hlel252bubjr425d0jq7912nfhveq4vv9@usenet...
    >A friend from Europe came to stay with me for two weeks and he was

WHAT???

This has got to be a troll. Everyone knows all Europeans have a minimum of
26 weeks paid leave every year, plus 75 paid holidays, plus 50 paid days
off for union meetings and protests and strikes. And the one week per year
they do work they only work 20 hours. So no European would ever be caught
dead crossing the Atlantic for a measly two-week trip.

    > shocked by what he said is the enormous importance that Americans
    > place on smiling. And teeth. And teeth whitening! He said Americans
    > are a bunch of smiling idiots. I guess living in the US one gets used
    > to it and doesn't notice it as much. But the teeth whitening thing he
    > said was the weirdest and I guess I'd have to agree. Even I have
    > noticed the unbelievable amount of teeth whitening commercials on TV.
    > I just couldn't explain to my friend why American culture is so
    > obsessed with teeth and smiling. Any ideas?

Well, the answer is simple. After spending 5,000 euros per month to rent
an apartment the size of an average American closet, how much is left over
to pay for things like visits to the dentist and such? Do they even have
dentists? On my trip to Europe I didn't see a single one.

On Sun, 12 Nov 2006 17:24:30 -0500, Gooserider
<[email protected]> wrote:

    > "James Silverton" <not.jim.silverton.at.comcast.not> wrote in message
    > news:[email protected]. ..
    >> Hello, marika!
    >> You wrote on Sun, 12 Nov 2006 18:57:47 GMT:
    >> ??>> A friend from Europe came to stay with me for two weeks
    >> ??>> and he was shocked by what he said is the enormous
    >> ??>> importance that Americans place on smiling. And teeth.
    >> ??>> And teeth whitening! He said Americans are a bunch of
    >> ??>> smiling idiots. I guess living in the US one gets used to
    >> ??>> it and doesn't notice it as much. But the teeth whitening
    >> ??>> thing he said was the weirdest and I guess I'd have to
    >> ??>> agree. Even I have noticed the unbelievable amount of
    >> ??>> teeth whitening commercials on TV. I just couldn't explain
    >> ??>> to my friend why American culture is so obsessed with
    >> ??>> teeth and smiling. Any ideas?
    >> m> i haven't had a chance because I didn't get back from work
    >> m> til real late and both days lunchtime was out
    >> Interesting, complaints about teeth coming from higher dental caries
    >> areas
    >> :-) To see the distribution have a look at
    >> http://www.scielosp.org/img/revistas...9/a11fig03.gif
    > The map is a bit misleading. Of course African nations would have low
    > numbers of filled, decayed, or missing teeth----they have no dentists.
    > It's
    > difficult to diagnose decay without a dentist, and it's difficult to have
    > dental work done without one also.

I read something about a tribe that removes teeth as part of some ritual.
Maybe that is what it is all about.

--

Hi togetehr

On Sun, 12 Nov 2006 22:22:00 GMT, "Gooserider"
<[email protected]> wrote:

    >"no fake smiles" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    >news:8hlel252bubjr425d0jq7912nfhveq4vv9@usenet. ..
    >>A friend from Europe came to stay with me for two weeks and he was
    >> shocked by what he said is the enormous importance that Americans
    >> place on smiling. And teeth. And teeth whitening! He said Americans
    >> are a bunch of smiling idiots. I guess living in the US one gets used
    >> to it and doesn't notice it as much. But the teeth whitening thing he
    >> said was the weirdest and I guess I'd have to agree. Even I have
    >> noticed the unbelievable amount of teeth whitening commercials on TV.
    >> I just couldn't explain to my friend why American culture is so
    >> obsessed with teeth and smiling. Any ideas?
    >It's because we HAVE TEETH, unlike lots of Europeans.

It's all part of a conspiracy from the American Dental Association.
In the end, they make all the money. Most dentists are crooks anyhow.
I was seeing one that insisted that every cavity I had needed a root
canal, (at a cost of $1200 per tooth), and this happened everytime I
went there. When I would tell him just to fill them, he would give me
a big speech. Then piss and moan the whole time he was treating me
(because a filling is $100). I finally had enough of that guy and I
asked for my xrays. He wanted to charge me more to get them. I
finally told him that since I paid for them, they were mine, and I'd
be happy to take him to small claims court. He gave me the xrays and
took them to another dentist. That guy said the dentist I was seeing
was a crook. He said none of these teeth were even close to needing a
root canal, and also told me that one of the fillings that other
dentist put in (a few weeks prior) missed part of the cavity, and was
loose. I considered going to court over that, but just left the new
dentist re-do the filling. I am sure to tell everyone I see to avoid
that crook dentist.

1. We have the Freed to
2. Americans have a lot to be thankful for
3. It improves your face value
4. What everybody else said

Marcus Cole wrote:
    > On Sun, 12 Nov 2006 12:25:09 -0500, no fake smiles
    > <[email protected]> wrote:
    > >A friend from Europe came to stay with me for two weeks and he was
    > >shocked by what he said is the enormous importance that Americans
    > >place on smiling. And teeth.
    > OK, why are the toothless, stinky-breath people criticizing the United
    > States? Did you folks wake up on the wrong side of the bed? With a
    > tooth ache?
    >
    > MC

    >>Now, folks, imagine if an actual American had posted...."I was visited by
    >>a
    >>European friend last week and all he could talk about was the poor
    >>condition
    >>of European's teeth. Why are European's obsessed with poor dental care?
    >>They MUST be, right, because my "friend" spoke of nothing else. I guess
    >>living here I am "used to" seeing Europeans with poor dental hygiene."
    > I thought that was the main topic of conversation between Americans
    > who have been to Europe, just as we are obsessed by how big and white
    > the teeth of Americans are. Do you imply that it is not so?
    > --
    > PB

Of course not. I don't know anybody who talks about teeth. And the OP wasn't
American, either, or he wouldn't have agreed that an entire country of 3
billion people could possibly be "obsessed with white teeth." Sheesh.
I appreciate your irony, but I am getting tired of these trolls such as the
guy who writes about "Germans don't smile" , etc.

Pat in TX

    > Well, the answer is simple. After spending 5,000 euros per month to rent
    > an apartment the size of an average American closet, how much is left over
    > to pay for things like visits to the dentist and such? Do they even have
    > dentists? On my trip to Europe I didn't see a single one.

LOL. I have NEVER seen a single dentist in Europe! Nor have I seen an
optician or a podiatrist! Wow! Where this thread could lead....

Pat in TX
    >

On Sun, 12 Nov 2006 21:30:19 -0600, "Pat in TX"
<[email protected]> wrote:

    >Of course not. I don't know anybody who talks about teeth. And the OP wasn't
    >American, either, or he wouldn't have agreed that an entire country of 3
    >billion people could possibly be "obsessed with white teeth."

Which country was that? The one needing a new maths and
geography syllabus?

    >Sheesh.
    >I appreciate your irony, but I am getting tired of these trolls such as the
    >guy who writes about "Germans don't smile" , etc.
    >Pat in TX

As you said it was a troll. No country holds the monopoly on
idiocy.

Cheers, Alan, Australia
--
http://loraltravel.blogspot.com/
latest: The Vatican
http://loraldiabetes.blogspot.com/

Alan S <[email protected]> wrote:

    >As you said it was a troll. No country holds the monopoly on
    >idiocy.
True. The competition is fierce.

--
PB
The return address has been MUNGED
My travel writing: http://www.iol.ie/~draoi/

On Sun, 12 Nov 2006 21:30:19 -0600, in rec.travel.europe, "Pat in TX" <[email protected]>
arranged some electrons, so they looked like this:


... > I thought that was the main topic of conversation between Americans
... > who have been to Europe, just as we are obsessed by how big and white
... > the teeth of Americans are. Do you imply that it is not so?
... >
... > --
... > PB
...
... Of course not. I don't know anybody who talks about teeth. And the OP wasn't
... American, either, or he wouldn't have agreed that an entire country of 3
... billion people

China is already there??