Foamy New World

A few days after I moved here to Buenos Aires, my brand new, extra-special, make-you-live-forever electric toothbrush broke. I hadn't brushed my teeth in a couple days, and I had a date. So, on the way to the date, I stopped at a kiosco (one of the ubiquitous, itty-bitty convenience stores found on every block) and bought a toothbrush.

I was walking down the sidewalk, brushing my teeth, when an old blind lady (dark glasses, white cane) approached. Ten feet away, she looked up, stopped with a startled expression, and said in perfect English, "You're not from here."

I replied, "Nope."

She told me, somewhat curtly, "We don't brush our teeth here."

Assuming she meant, "on the sidewalk," I responded, "We don't brush our teeth in the street where I come from either, but I have a date and my toothbrush broke, so I bought a new one."

She said, somewhat curtly, "We don't do that here," and shuffled off.

I restrained myself from shouting after her, "Where I come from, old blind ladies can't see!" But I didn't, because now, somewhere out there, roaming the streets of Buenos Aires, is an old blind lady who thinks American sidewalks are full of extra-polite people practicing good dental hygiene.