Thursday, March 08, 2007

My teeth (and Chris Meade is luck)

I am writing this with these Walgreens Whitening Dental Strips on my teeth because my first grader Isabel asked me (months ago?), "Why are your teeth so yellow?" And then speculated that it is because I drink too much tea. Whitening strips are something that make Sophie roll her eyes and say, "That is SO AMERICAN." And I do feel more than a little strange about it. It feels like a mouthgaurd and I look very silly and what is it really for, after all? Isabel still LIKES me (even though my teeth are yellow). She dedicates her coloring sheets to me kind of OFTEN. And is the only kid at the after school program who remembers my nickname from the beginning of the year (which was my supervisor's idea, but never caught on: Miss Recess because a BELL means that it is time for recess). So why do I feel pressure to whiten? If the one person who REALLY LIKES ME in Commerce City, Colorado is also the only person who noticed. (Or admitted that she noticed.) Not even in a "you should do something about that" way, but in a, "I am going to make this neutral observation about you" way. I don't know. They (the whitening strips) were on sale at Walgreens and I bought them and then went right to the coffee shop to meet Sophie and confessed it to her and she said, "Oh, those things are so American."

I knew a woman who used them the summer after freshman year at an internship in New York. And she said that she used the "extra half hour of sitting around" to do sit-ups so that it would at least feel worth it for SOMETHING. SO I am using the extra-half hour to write this blog to you, but it is not even a very GOOD blog. Mostly because I am so aware of my teeth and the passing time. (I have one more minute.) So please don't judge me too harshly (my brother will), and just consider it an experiment in American cosmetics. Maybe I will write again tomorrow.--E

3 comments:

C Meade said...

a thought that I've been having lately RE: dental whitening

If you just use a marker or some dye to make even just one tooth totally black, the rest of the teeth will look totally luminous.

elsie said...

Oh, good call. And it would probably be better for teeth.

C Meade said...

you see, my brother is a dentist and I am a lazy