My family and I have been living in Tuscany for the past two years. My son attends the local junior high school and last year, came home with a startling revelation. He was given an assignment on culture and customs. In it, he had to highlight basic Americanisms, such as foods, television habits, and hygiene. Well, on the day of his assignment, let’s just say that his revealing that he showered every morning, was the shot heard around the world. When he felt compelled to add that his mother, liked to shower in the morning and before bedtime, we were pegged as being obsessive. For some reason, they could not figure out, why someone would be so dirty, and have to shower daily. Of course, I was curious about their response and the answer caused an olfactory hallucination. My nose curled downward and my top lip moved upward to ward off, an imagined stink.

The Italians shower once a week and during mid day. For some reason, they believe going to bed or outside with damp hair will cause a cold. They never shower in the morning, and many of them do not like antiperspirant, although they have deodorant. I actually thought that only the French were guilty of once a week showers but comes to find out, it is like this in many foreign countries. At my insistence, my husband now wears deodorant I order online from America. A good quality antiperspirant is hard to find, and many times will cost you at least fifteen dollars.

When Harry Reid made a snide remark about the scent of tourists in New York, there were a lot of people who took offense. Yet, it is not uncommon to be in a grocery store, or other public area and smell the ripe scent of fresh sweaty underarms. For many people, this is a sign of masculinity. In fact, such is the case in many other countries, to the point that I wonder if we are the only country, besides Japan, that believes it is a crime to not wear deodorant. In America, I have seen other people written up, for personal hygiene infractions. We don’t like smelling our own bodies, much less someone else. No, I think Americans are on the right track when it comes to cleanliness. It’s one less stereotype we have to deal with while abroad. No one has to brace themselves for a tailwind, when most of us walk past.