I have made the following observations after a lifetime of watching certain people in their everyday actions and reactions. It is not a scientific theorem that can be proved with a formula but I, Stanley Greenberg, have proved it to my own satisfaction.

We are currently in the "age of therapy." The idea is that almost any deficiency can be treated by speaking to a trained therapist. I am going to mention three types of social behavior I have observed that I feel no therapist can change no matter how seriously both sides attempt to correct.

1. The overactive toothbrusher: As a practicing dentist for over 40 years I have seen this person wear away their own tooth structure and many fine dental restorations. You can look at the toothbrush of this individual and see how it is splayed, as proof. They seem to get a serious satisfaction from brushing as hard as possible. Whiteness is the aim and pressure and repetition are the method. Brushing should be accomplished by wrist movements and not by biceps musculature.

When informed of the deep ridges in the soft tooth structures (dentin and cementum) they promise to relent. They do not stop! They are on a mission!

2. Habitual tailgaters: In your rear-view mirror you observe this driver who seems to be almost in the back seat of your car. He/she does not obey the "three second rule" we are taught in driver education courses. This rule requires the driver to see a fixed spot then count three seconds until they reach that spot. It is a rule-of-thumb which allows proper braking room between cars on the highway.

Instead, they are less than a car length from your rear bumper. They have utmost trust and faith that you are a wonderful driver and do not brake injudiciously. All the driver's education courses do these close followers absolutely no good.

3. Credit card shopaholics: The invention of the credit card brought both joy and sadness into the financial world. Buy today and pay 30 days later would seem to be a wonderful method of shopping.

The day for payment always and inevitably arrives. Once I bought my wife a bracelet with a credit card on the Greek Isle of Mykonos. The bill arrived at my home before I got back from Europe.

For some people it is very hard to bypass an item if they have a credit card handy. "Why deprive myself?" is the question they ask.

"It makes me feel better to buy something when I am blue." The day of reckoning always arrives. Sometimes they forget that they had purchased that item so long ago.

The piper always must be paid!

I have just elicited three forms of behavior that I have deemed unchangeable. If you have any you want to list, you can e-mail me at shgreenbug@AOL.com or write to me in care of the Syosset-Jericho Tribune.