The State of Teeth.

Today is the beginning of 4 days off and it is all mine.  I do not need to go anywhere or see anyone or even talk to anyone all day long.  It's a gift.

The government has been (partially) shutdown for 10 days.  I doubt any of the individuals that are currently furloughed are seeing this as a gift.  I wish they could---they could enjoy every minute as much as I am planning to--but the one time I was out of work for ten days, I was not enjoying myself. I was afraid I would not be able to pay my bills, or feed my kids, or put gas in my car.  I spent the time trying to find a new job, and I did, and I did have to get rid of some services that I enjoyed like cable TV and my cell phone at the time, and there were no meals eaten out or movies or new clothes.
The long term effects were more subtle.  I have changed jobs much quicker since then, watching for signs of political unrest that can fall back on me and my lifestyle.

My coworkers find me distrustful, hyper-vigilant, paranoid.  I notice when the ley lines change in the power structure, sometimes a thing as subtle as which empty chair is chosen by the one in charge. Sometimes more obvious--when a department head is back in the starter position and the second-in-commands incompetent but attractive friend is in the emptied position the next day.   The later would not have happened 3 months before.  Three months ago there was still much excuse-making about the previous 4 failed upper level positions that particular cutie had occupied.  Something had changed.

In our government, the very popular (in our state) group that is currently holding the country hostage is not as popular.  That is also a subtle change.  The huge fans of the Tea Party, and there were many in this Red state in the buckle of the Bible Belt, have grown quiet.  The previously quiet and frequently fearful members of the other party have become more vocal.  Ignoring the ridiculousness of a state whose aim seems to be to maintain itself in the position of worst of 50 states in every possible measure of comparison, our State government continues to be vocally and adamantly crazy.
One of our State senators, (State, not Federal--its confusing even when looking at the ballot), the same one that placed a stone with the 10 commandments on the capital lawn, complete with typos, was quoted today blaming the national healthcare system in England for the  renowned bad teeth of the British.

The picture displayed above the article he was so willingly interviewed for showed a man with what must surely be a toupe and some extremely denture-like teeth.  If they are his teeth, they have had some serious work, veneers perhaps, and I can't imagine any insurance paid for that.
Oddly, I had always viewed the whole British teeth issue not as a healthcare issue, but as cultural issue, not so vain, not so worried about buying perfection and putting down anyone that didn't fix their imperfectly shaped and crooked teeth.  I had never heard that the British were suffering from lack of dental hygiene or unrepaired decay.

In my state, on the other hand, one has only to walk through Walmart to see the many fine teeth of our residents.  Methamphetamine has truly upped the number of scarey mouths in the last twenty years, now people as young as twenty smile and make those that witness that smile skip meals. Parents point to those mouths and use them to warn their children off taking drugs.  Before meth, we had a lack of dental care, school children that recieved their first toothbrush in school when the school nurse handed them a brush and miniature tube of toothpaste as part of her dental hygiene class.  When asked, those same students, newly gifted with a basic tool of cleanliness, would tell anyone listening that people over 20 lost their teeth, it was normal.

I think perhaps it might be a good response by the United Kingdom to send a research team to the middle of the US of A and take pictures and do interviews about the amazing dental care and fine teeth seen here.  Because, yes, among those with a little money and a strong sense that only people with straight, white teeth will ever succeed, they will pay out the nose to put their precious babies in braces and then get them professionally whitened, but for the rest of the teeth of this fine state, we just make the British look confidant and sensible.