"Have you ever MET an adult with braces?"

I did not come to this decision of getting braces lightly. I had been self-conscious of my LARGE gums for a long time. (see figure 1.1) I have a bit of a horsey look because of them. (see figure 2.1) And after seeing my film Bilal's Stand on a movie theatre screen I knew something needed to be done.

I went to the dentist to get the gums removed with a laser (yikes!) It didn't happen. The dentist's exact words in response to my request were, "Picture a garage door that's crooked, on top of a cement driveway that's also crooked. Not too bad? Then I fix the garage door and make it straight. Now the driveway looks really, Really, HORRIBLY Crooked. THAT is what your TEETH would look like if I lasered away your gums."

AWESOME.

So I went to the orthodontist for her opinion, thinking I would walk out of the office with plastic, removable, brace things. Her exact words were "It's great that you want to look better. Everyone wants to look better. But you have serious medical problems that need to be addressed. And invisalign is not an option."

FANTASTIC

Needless to say, I'm getting braces. The following are quotes from friends when I told them the news. To be fair, some of them found the idea to be so ridiculous they thought I was being melodramatic and said some not-so-helpful things. Their names have been changed to protect their identity because I still love them.

"Why, so you can look 15 again?" - B. C.

Follow up response: "Well if it makes you feel any better, I had braces for 6 years."

"No, Chels, that's horrible. Don't do it." - Bar-bie

Follow up: "Well, if it makes you feel any better, I had braces for 5 years."

"Have you ever met an adult with braces? Go meet one. Their weird." - Mr. Jeffasaurusrex

"Dude, you're going to feel so bad about yourself. You will never want to smile. I knew one adult with braces. She was the librarian. I called her 'Braces.' Ms. Brower

Follow up: "The time will fly by. And you won't really feel that bad."

"Oh because your teeth are crowded? Yeah that makes sense. I bet you'll look super cute in braces." - Awesome boyfriend.

While overhearing part of my conversation-

R: "I had a real problem with them when I first moved to New York."

Me: "Braces?"

R: "Oh, I thought you said racists."

Winning Quote! - "I had braces for 4 years and I looked stunning the entire time." -Cyn