by Nicole Smith

Created on: November 14, 2008

Bad breath: The cruel undeserved punishment that is freely given to all that cross the path of the breather (Pretty impressive the way I create words out of thin air huh?) Picture this scenario if you will. You are trapped in a car with the windows rolled up because of the bad weather. There was freezing rain that pelted the windows with unending vigor. The heat was pumping through the car's heater due to frigid temperatures. You are on your way to one of your favorite restaurants for a celebratory birthday dinner. A ride that in actuality should only take about thirty minutes but it feels like you have been riding in the car for hours. At least twenty times, you have resisted the urge to scream, "Are we there yet?" This is not because you are excited about the anticipation of partaking in a great meal, but it is because you are being slowly tortured. Why you ask? The answer is quite simple . . . your driving companion is talking non-stop, apparently with tons of things that must be said at that very moment, and whose breath smells like a cross between abandoned car battery acid and what I can only imagine baby monkey toe jam would smell like. Or maybe their breath smells like musty subway intermingled with the residue of your local city dump. Either way in a word . . . WRETCHED! It only takes seven minutes for the entire car to be completely saturated with this toxin and somehow you seem to be the only one that notices. Granted, there are only two of you in the car. In between taking in as little air as possible you spend some time thinking to yourself, "How can a person with such a beautiful smile, teeth so straight and so white have such an offensive odor escape their mouth with such force and venom". If you had to guess you would have to say that your companion suffered from a severe case of simple chronic halitosis, although there really is nothing simple about it. It doesn't mater how close you are standing to them your companion's breath can be smelled from close up as well as far away. You don't know if they have a rotten tooth, if they are suffering from tooth decay, or if the odor is gum related. What you do know is that this person exudes an extremely noticeable and highly unpleasant mouth odor and they should seek dental assistance as soon as possible! You also have the thought that if you can smell their breath how come they can't. Or can they? Regardless or its origin there is no excuse for bad breath. There are so many products that can help with freshening ones breath even if the fix is temporary. Things like mouth wash, gum, mints, breath sprays, flossing, etc. Admittedly, you probably didn't think to ask how the odor came into being. And for as selfish as this may sound I wouldn't blame you if your thoughts at that point were only about exiting the vehicle and running for the hills. They say you are never too old to learn so I guess the lesson here would be to always carry some kind of breath freshener because you never know when you may get trapped in a car (or an elevator for that matter) with someone whose breath is so strong it could be used as smelling salts. I know it sounds crazy but it as the saying goes, "Better safe than sorry".

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