I've noticed quite a few people in Geneva with leg limps -- I'm not talking about panhandlers here -- and I'm wondering if anyone else here has noticed. This includes one of my neighbors. Is it just because everyone's in a car in the States so I never noticed or is there another reason? Maybe we're more willing to do orthopedic surgery on children in America? It could just be random, I realize. In Washington, D.C., there's a large deaf community because the country's most prestigious deaf university, Gallaudet, is there.

On a separate note, not all the buses in Geneva seem wheelchair-accessible.

Yeah in this backwards European outpost we don't have the money to do surgery on our kids.

Oh to be american.. and live the american dream.

On another note, I think the cause of most of the Swiss limps is Boy_D.

I thought this about blind people when I first came here. But then I came to the conclusion that they were catered for, things have been made more accessible for them. It took me a while to work out what the raised white lines in all the stations were.

Isn't it the weight of their wallets in one pocket?

Ahhh, you beat me to it

I believe the term is orthopaedic when it is performed on children.

Ba-dum-tish, i am here all week.

proximity of mountains leading to skiing injuries of the leg.

Sorry if I was misunderstood. Thinking it over, this type of surgery is probably nothing advanced. But what do I know about medicine? I got barely through biology in school. What I meant is that in my opinion, many Americans (the ones with means, anyway) want to over-do things related to health even if it's overly intrusive, risky or maybe even needless.

For example, an Irish friend was amused when I noticed and wondered why only one kid in a large group boarding the tram had orthodontic braces. It's kind of a rite of passage in American schools because it's so common...ice cream to relieve the pain after the braces are tightened, orange and black rubber bands for Halloween, etc. A slight overbite isn't going to affect future health probably, but why not fix it anyway?

Other examples are large vitamin sections in American pharmacies and the proliferation of antibacterial products. During flu season, I remember supermarkets setting out disinfectant tissues or sanitizing the carts and baskets for you.

Like the sales of Ritilin. All of a sudden everyone has ADD. Load 'em up I say.