Salad dressing without selection in France

As usual, we were over dinner discussing cultural differences while eating an excellent salad at a favorite restaurant. There, the salad is part of the meal and dressing comes on the salad. Naturally it got us talking about salad in France and how when ordering a salad, there is never a question about dressing, it is always vinaigrette. No one ever asks if there is a different dressing, it is a given, an assumption, like eating a baguette without butter, or cheese after the main course. In American, how many dressings do we have: honey mustard, French, ranch, thousand island, Russian, blue cheese, and on and on. Do we really need it all? Does it really add anything to the salad? Can you taste it when it is smothered in heavy dressing, or is it best enjoyed with a light vinaigrette? Although I love a good blue cheese now and again especially on spinach salad, and Russian on a sandwich, I do always trend back to basic oil and balsamic vinegar. Voila!