YOU'RE SO AMERICAN...
This small moment, which was probably extremely insignificant really stood out from the industrial design side of my brain. With the same group of Brazilians from the previous post, I was preparing to brush my teeth. I have an oral b electric tooth brush, pretty standard in my mind. I thought it’s fairly common, nothing quite out of the ordinary.
When I received the comment, “You use an electric toothbrush? Your so American…” I looked up, as toothpaste collided with the sink, with the most baffled look. I asked, “What is so American about an electric toothbrush?”
“We don’t use them in Brazil,” was the response.
One of the girls in the group prepared her tooth brush, I said with a smile and triumphant diction, “Ah, but SHE has an electric tooth brush!”
She looked at the both of us with a flat expression and quietly said, “the dentist said I should use it, but I don’t actually turn on the brush.”
I don’t believe there is a word to describe the type of confusion I had at that moment. As I cleaned up my belongings in the sink, I saw she didn’t actually turn on the electric brush. She just used it as a standard brush.
At this point, my brain is firing all 8 cylinders (possibly 12, I might need a new engine). Is it some sort of embarrassment from a cultural stand point to use the electric tooth brush? If the dentist recommended it, but she knew she wouldn’t use the electric feature, why did she buy it in the first place? Does the electric toothbrush just seem like a gimmick in their culture? Does it make people seem lazy, because they don’t have the energy to brush their teeth manually?
These are several questions I couldn’t let go, but at the same time, couldn’t directly ask anyone there. So as inadvertently possible, I have abruptly stood out from a group of people because of the product I use to brush my teeth…
The nuances within cultures on such a minute and seemingly insignificant manner causes me to wonder what else is out there where I can be considered, “so American." Let the learnings flow.
ADDTIONAL UPDATE:
I'll be leaving for Brazil in two days, I won't be bringing my electric toothbrush. Also I will count how many times it's said that "You're So American."