People don’t look good

~ MaryG

I don’t know if this is just a New England thing or what, but people do not look well to me. It’s been a looooong winter here in New England (currently 42 degrees with light snow in Nashua, NH), but it’s like this every year. We know this. March is a winter month and it’s foolish to expect anything else, even with global warming. You can easily get snow on Easter Sunday. Hell, I’ve seen snow on Mother’s Day.

But this is different. A lot of people look miserable to me. An older woman with a walker was my cashier at Marshall’s yesterday. At age 65+, she has a job that requires her to stand up—for hours. Can she not retire? Is she one of the millions of Americans whose retirement plan is “work til I die.”

I have no idea of the political affiliation of strangers, so maybe this has nothing to do with the erosion of democracy or ascendent authoritarianism, but it does remind me a bit of my trip to the Soviet Union in 1987. Nobody smiled there. Everyone looked…grey (for lack of a better word). If they did smile, you could see that their teeth were horrible. They did not have American smiles.

I have done a fair bit of traveling and I can tell you that we tend be the warmest smilers in the world. And as a rule, we have fantastic teeth. (Maybe it was the fluoride and all the other public health initiatives we benefited from as kids.) But I’m seeing far fewer smiles lately. And more people are missing teeth.

An older woman sitting in a museum in Suzdal (Russia/USSR) in 1987 – “smiling” without showing her teeth
A couple struggling their way through a Nashua mall today in search of a free wheelchair for her to use

23 thoughts on “People don’t look good”

    1. I feel like we’ve all been going through a collective traumatic experience since November 8, 2016, with just a few months of respite when we felt some actual joy around Kamala & Tim.

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    1. I don’t think things are going back to normal in four years. He’s dismantling the government and the democracy. I think we’re in a whole new paradigm and need to figure out how to adjust.

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  5. I think the general mood in the country is off. I think people are tired of the chaos and uncertainty. Or maybe people are just physically and mentally tired altogether. My friends and I feel it. I hope it somehow takes a turn. There… I threw it out in the universe. Let’s see if anyone is listening.

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  6. I think that Americans in general are obsessed with their teeth. I have been around the world and in my humble opinion people in poorer regions have warmer (true) smiles. I heard Iranians are among the nicest people in the world, if it wasn’t for the oppressive regime.

    Concerning the US, the situation is dire, but let’s be honest, the disease has been festering for a long time. We live in an age of stupidity, non critical thinking and kakistocracy. Over 40 percent of potential voters in America, don’t actually vote. Any more questions? I have a feeling this situation will not end well in the land of the free.

    In Europe we boycott American products, shame Tesla drivers and will eventually punish Big Tech with a digital tax. Plus the Euro is now very strong against the dollar.

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    1. Guilty as charged. I had braces twice!

      Teslas are getting vandalized here too, which is ridiculous because most people bought them before Musk had anything to do with Trump (they were actually trying to do something good for the environment when they bought an electric car).

      I also think we’re headed for something very bad here. We had that big chance to change course in November, but apathy and the manosphere (Joe Rogan, etc) torpedoed it.

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      1. Right. I listen regularly to the Podcast of Anthony Scaramucci and Katty Kay, The Rest is Politics, and according to Scaramucci, there are still enough checks and balances in the US to keep a rogue President at bay. Somehow, that’s a weak consolation after this crazy week. Have a great weekend 🌞

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  7. You can see divisions so clear here in Miami. Some have treatments and procedures that make them look almost otherworldly and ever-young, and then it does seem that more people have serious teeth issues and abilities getting around.

    It isn’t easy keep up with the basic things, if you don’t have money to bypass multiplied inconveniences and obstacles. Life is hard, and it shows.

    My hope is to stay in the middle, not succumbing to much aesthetic cleansing, focusing on health and simplicity, more and more. I haven’t been able to afford the second set of braces I need yet, but I’d do that in a second, if I’m honest. In theory I love the character of real faces, but when it comes to myself, I wouldn’t mind a little tweaking.

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    1. Yes, south Florida has some truly otherworldly faces. Maybe life shows even more on some of those highly-modified women. Like, what kind of psychic pain would make someone do that? Focusing on health is the way to go I think, with moderate splurges. (I did just order a “miracle” cream for the bags under my eyes.) I’ll try most things that do not involve scalpels or needles.

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      1. Same! In the sorting, I see the timeline of my skincare routine, which got really bloated for a while. Now it’s about 4 steps. 🙂

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  8. With a rollercoaster stock market lately, I can see why people are worried. We plan to retire next year, unless ‘he’ signs more appalling executive orders that would prevent us from doing so. We’re living in uncertain times, scarier than we have ever experienced with anyone in the oval office. Can’t stand to watch him and Mr. Tesla on the screen. I’ll end my rant now. 🙂

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    1. I do hope you get to retire as planned, Lauren. I feel there’s no certainty anymore. The chaos is not going to end well. I’m glad I did a bunch of my bucket list trips these past two years.

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