Cigarette Ahegao - Health Culture in Europe and the US
American Stereotypes. What are the most common ones? In my conversations with strangers, I’ve heard answers akin to “gun enthusiasts” and “culturally unseasoned”. One that I haven’t heard from Europeans yet is “overweight”.
Obesity in the US is an epidemic. My sister that is studying to become a medical student always tells me about how heart disease is the number 1 cause of death in the country, and obesity is almost certainly a factor in that.
I touched on this already in my fast food review post, but I feared that portion sizes in Europe wouldn’t be enough, and that I would have to order 2 entrees per meal. Now 20-something days into this trip, I haven’t ever felt like a meal was not satisfying. So if obesity isn’t a problem here, what’s the deal?
The answer is sugar - azúcar, siúcra, zucchero, sucre, or zucker. The soft drink sizes (which I also covered already) vary wildly between these two regions. I haven’t had much sugary foods in Europe besides the Lindor truffles, a couple local sodas, and a healthy amount of gelato. But I’d guess the candy stores in London, literally named “American Candy” probably sell normal-sized candy portions and not the five pound bags of gummy bears, those tubes full of colored sugar dust at every amusement park, or the Costco-sized tubs of ice cream that you could fit a small child inside.
So yeah, Europeans don’t gorge themselves constantly. Coke Zero is actually cheaper than regular Coke in some places to discourage sugar consumption, and they don’t drink buckets of it either. That’s great! Then why am I writing this? A really prominent difference between the US and Europe is the culture of nicotine.
Everywhere you look, and I mean everywhere, there is an adult holding either a cigarette or a nicotine vape device. Nicotine products of all kinds are sold in tobacco stores, souvenir shops, newsstands, vending machines, and even just random dudes standing around tourist attractions with cheap vape devices.
This was a nicotine vending machine I found in a pub in Andermatt, Switzerland. There are also SO many cigarette vending machines all over Europe.
At first, I wondered if there were any sort of regulations or campaigns to stop smoking. That was, until I saw one guy’s pack of cigarettes in Paris that said in letters bigger than the branding itself: SMOKING KILLS. Paris had to be the worst about it, too. All the patio tables at cafés, restaurants and bars have ashtrays, and there is always that distinct scent of cigarette smoke as you walk by.
I think every single young American I have met on this trip so far doesn’t smoke, which I think is awesome! Of course, the sample here is small, but I feel hopeful and glad that anti-smoking campaigns are likely working in the US.
I can’t exactly get on my high horse here - I’ve got issues too. While I think my sugar consumption isn’t absurd, it’s probably higher than it should be. I partly blame my mom for leaving sweets out in her house all the time, which I enjoy of course. But ultimately it’s up to me to control my health, and I think I’ve done a good job of reducing my sugar intake throughout this adventure.
Over-consumption isn’t only categorized as food either. I don’t know the habits of Europeans when it comes to media consumption. But the whole slew of streaming services and social media sites gives Americans hundreds of options for new shows to watch, old shows to binge, and meme pages to doom-scroll on until you pass out.
The last one, social media, is my “nicotine”. For years, I think my productivity as a student and a professional has been stunted by the distractions of my cell phone. It’s an issue that I have no problem recognizing and admitting, but I just can’t seem to shake my habits of checking Instagram as a “break” when I get stressed or watching junk on YouTube for hours on end to procrastinate an assignment.
Part of the reason I embarked on this trip was to try and break these habits. How has it gone so far? I feel like I’ve made progress on it. It helps to have a reason to get up out of bed in the morning, rather than being unemployed and having nothing to do with myself. I’ve got a whole world to see now!
It makes it difficult when a significant portion of my generation uses these social media spaces to communicate, sometimes exclusively. For the past couple years, I have mostly kept myself off instagram. But meeting all these people and having to tell them “oh, I don’t have instagram” makes it difficult to make plans for later, creating a feeling of FOMO. Using it to supplement real life interaction is great, but then I turn around and scroll by myself for longer than I’d like to admit, just because it’s there.
I sometimes imagine what my life would be like if I hadn’t wasted all the time that I did on this habit. I try not to dwell on the past, but using the sites again compounds with thoughts of the past. It makes me feel icky, like a mental hangover that can’t just be fixed with water and a greasy breakfast.
What’s the solution here? Here’s my attitude with a lot of things - I usually tell myself, “it’s fine, you’re fine”. I have some growing to do as a human, and I can’t be too hard on myself. Eventually, I will find balance, and I think this trip is helping a lot with that.
Another observation I’ve made is European regulations and attitudes toward alcohol. The Europeans I’ve spoken with say that their first experience with alcohol was with their parents. I think the lower drinking age in these countries is genius. It gives teenagers a chance to understand what alcohol does to their bodies at a younger age so they can learn to not abuse this substance in the future.
My first experiences with alcohol were in my friend Katie’s college apartment in Boulder, CO. I was surrounded by a few friends and some new people who were also probably under 21, and we just threw back shot after shot. Did I get really drunk? Yes, but not dangerously so. I feel thankful that I have these friends that were there to look out for me - some Americans’ first taste of alcohol, unfortunately, happens in unsafe situations. 18-year-olds being catapulted into a culture of heavy college drinking can be incredibly dangerous. These stories you hear of fraternities forcing their freshmen pledges to drink are a sad and scary reality.
The last difference I’ll point out is the several different types of non-alcoholic beers and virgin cocktails offered at almost every restaurant and bar I’ve been to. This is a growing trend I’ve seen at music festivals and concerts in the US, so I’m glad to see that it is common here. It creates a healthy alternative for those with dietary restrictions and safe space for people who have suffered from alcoholism.
Health consciousness really just boils down to being a part of the local culture. A fond memory I have of growing up in American culture my buddies and I riding our bikes down to the local Walgreens or gas station, we buy as much junk food as possible, then haul it all back to someone’s basement and play video games all night. It’s just like how Parisians sit on the covered patio of a bistrot, listening to the rain, sipping on a non-alcoholic beer, and smoking a hand-rolled cigarette.
Here’s the (strange, yet charming) song that inspired the title of this post.
