In the summer of 2010 I took a trip to Colombia (South America). I've been going there once in a while for most of my life so I'm accustomed to what the culture is like down there. Like anywhere else on the planet you have good, bad and a whole lot of in between. Just in case you aren't familiar with one of the things that Colombia has to offer besides coffee and Shakira is Cosmetic surgery. People travel from all over the world to have "work done" in Colombia. The surgeons have pretty good reputations and the prices are very low in comparison to what you would spend in the U.S or Europe. There are companies that offer tours which include the usual: food, lodging, sight seeing and oh yeah breast augmentation and a tummy tuck. Even with all the traveling, eating and hotel stays you can still save thousands depending on the procedure. With that being said lets continue...so on my quest to a healthier lifestyle I decide to have my tooth fillings removed of the heavy metals and replaced with a composite substance that is way better for you. Those "silver" fillings are toxic people! check out Dr Zeines website at www.natdent.com for more info. -enough with the public service announcement.
While in Colombia I'm chatting with my cousin who was visiting from Spain told me that he just had his daughters braces put in for 1/5 of what they were charging in Spain...so i decide I'll go to that particular dentist. I walk into the Dental office and instantly I'm surprised at the layout. The weather in that region hovers around the high 50's to 60's so the office has a lot of open air. I mean a lot...the front of it basically opens all the way, kind of like a big garage with one huge door. So I'm thinking this is interesting not like back in the sates where dentists offices are completely enclosed in random office buildings. Anyway after entering, I'm soon greeted by a pleasant young lady who is extremely cordial. She greets me with a warm smile, hug and kiss on the cheek. Now imagine your dentist doing that in NY, you would think they were drunk! I tell her I'm interesting in having the fillings removed and she sits me down and explains everything in detail such as price and duration. I make my appointment and return the next day. The next day I walk in after a looooong night of partying. So once again I'm greeted as if I were family and she sits me down in her chair. I kept falling asleep as she was trying to work...she did not get upset or even give the slightest hint of being annoyed. Instead she laughs a little, caresses my head(in a caring way) and says poor baby didn't sleep enough. It felt as if one of my aunts was doing my dental work. She did not refer to me as sir or Mr. Moyano but with various Latin terms of endearment...similar to the English version of sweety and baby. I am used to, "sir please open wide, wider, rinse, spit and get out." When she was done working I filled out some paperwork and she sat down next to me chatted with me, wiped the bits of tooth stuff i failed to wipe off, gave me a kiss on the cheek and I was off.
These are the main differences between the experience over there and in the U.S. Over here we have a certain idea of how a professional should behave. Lost of sirs and thank yous. Over there its not deemed unprofessional to be warm and to actually touch somebody without fear of a sexual harassment suit. I advised some other family members to go to that dental office during our trip and they received similar treatment. Women aren't offended by a man greeting them with a kiss on the cheek and men don't think a woman is throwing herself at him if she refers to him endearingly. It was nice to see this educated professional woman still be so warm in her work environment. Yes, it's true i was a paying customer but I pay for services here and have hardly received a thank you. In my opinion American women find themselves having to de-sexualize themselves as much as possible in order to compete with men. Femininity might be seen as a handicap or unprofessional. The culture in Colombia seems to preserve the natural caring that people should have for each other, free of judgment.
So there you have it...want some quality, inexpensive dental work performed by a dentist with a bit of compassion and warmth who calls you sweety - go to Colombia. If not stay here and open wide, wider, rinse, spit, and get out.
I never knew Columbia was known for it's cosmetic surgery...very interesting! It's funny that this behavior seems so "weird" to us when people are so warm and friendly, since it is not at all what we are used to here in the states. If a dentist acted like that here, we would probably go into shock! Thanks for your blog, I learned a lot!
ReplyDeleteHi...I find this experience of yours very interesting. Usually, going to the dentist is for many people a terrifying experience. I think that some of the ways of interacting with patients in Colombia are good for calming the person down.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you on women in America "de-sexualizing" themselves. One of the examples that came to my mind right away was Hillary Clinton!! When she was running in the primary election against Obama, Anna Wintour (Vogue editor-in-chief) offered her the front cover but said that she has to do it in a skirt. Clinton declined in fear that she will look too feminine and people might perceive her as a weaker candidate. I think that was a big mistake on her part. She should have embraced her feminine side. Obama didn't try to go and whiten his skin and try to be a white man. He came out and said I'm here and I'm black and I'm going to be your president. If she accepted herself for who she is, I think she could have taken that election away from him.
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