Sure thing.
From the day after she got her braces:
We went out and made the rounds of several of our favorite downtown pubs. She was eager to get out of the house, so off we went. Reactions:
Pub 1 - no comment at all from the pretty young bartender, whom we've known for a couple of years. She definitely noticed the braces, but was too polite to say anything.
Pub 2 - no comment at all from the gruff Irish-immigrant bartender we've known for a year. I seriously think he didn't even notice, but if he did he clearly didn't care one whit.
Walking between Pubs 2 and 3, we ran into a couple of gay guys we're pretty good friends with. No comments until my wife said, "Look what I did!" and pointed to her mouth. One said, "I noticed! How long do you need to have them?" She told him a year and a half. The other just said, "Well, that's way better than having them four years of high school like I did." And that was that.
Pub 3 - no comments from the two Hooters girls. We didn't know either of them, though we do know some of the bartenders there. Mainly we just wanted to sit on the patio because it was a beautiful afternoon.
Pub 4 - Biggest reaction in this Italian restaurant/wine bar. The gay bartender immediately asked, "What's in your mouth?" She showed and said she got braces yesterday. He told her she didn't need braces and she gave him the song and dance about the bite corrections and the Hollywood smile. He accepted it and that was the end of it. He and I talked about working out way more than they did about braces.
Apparently straight people don't care and gay people care a tiny bit, haha!
From the Sunday after she got her braces:
I took her to the Suns (pro basketball) game. She grew up watching basketball with her father and brothers, and loves it to this day. We stopped at our favorite local sports bar (Pub 1 above) for a couple of pints prior to the game. It was pretty crowded, and she got some reactions to her new braces:
A bartender we've known since the place opened five years ago, had zero reaction. We chatted with him quite a bit - we know him pretty well - and while I could tell he noticed, he either didn't care or was too polite to comment.
An absolutely gorgeous (literally a model and actress in TV commercials) young server we've known for a couple of years, came bounding up to us in her usual very energetic way. I sometimes compare this girl to Tigger because of her boundless, happy, bouncing, friendly energy. First thing she said: "Look at you with those braces!" with a big smile. That was the extent of her comments on the braces, and we moved on to talking about all the big events scheduled for downtown Phoenix that weekend.
A fellow regular at this pub is an older and completely henpecked man. He was drunk and I could tell he wanted to ask about the braces. But he's terrified of women, so he refrained.
Another bartender we've know for a couple of years, visited with us for a few minutes. He said, "You got braces? Did you need braces?" She gave a short explanation about wanting a perfect smile and the conversation moved on. This bartender is quite young, about 24, and I think he's fairly accustomed to women in his age group having braces, so it's no big deal to him.
The best was another server, a great guy we've known for a couple years. We know him well enough that we occasionally hang out with him outside the bar. He came up and said, "Look at those train tracks!" She acknowledged and smiled at him. Not satisfied, he said, "No, let me really see those things!" So she gave him a giant grin so he could see her braces in all their metal glory. He asked the usual questions about why and how long. Finally he said, "But your teeth were good before. Are you spending money just to spend money?" She talked about the gaps in her teeth plus her bite issues, and then we moved on to other topics, like our horrible local pro sports teams.
We went to the game, which was surprisingly competitive considering our young and inexperienced team playing against some borderline NBA superstars. We went to the beer stand twice. She did not get carded, which I think disappointed her slightly. She commented about how this was her "first Suns game in braces." She also kept teasing me by discreetly running her tongue over her braces. Oh man!
After the game, we dropped into the sports bar again (it's between the basketball arena and our condo). This time we ran into a middle-aged retired couple we know pretty well. We all chatted at the bar, and after about 15 minutes, the woman noticed the braces and they talked about them for several minutes. I missed most of it because I was talking to the man about a musical they'd just seen at the local theatre. But the woman came across as extremely supportive, almost enthusiastic. In fairness, she and her husband were both pretty tipsy.
Lastly, another female bartender turned around from the cash register and just said, "YOU LOOK SO CUTE!" My wife smiled and was all happy.
It was a fun night!
Reactions from her family have ranged from envy (her older sister REALLY wants braces of her own) to supportive "Good for you!" type statements from her parents (her father also had adult braces).
One of her friends just said, "You didn't tell me you were getting braces!"
Her best friend knows the *real* reason she got braces. We hung out with her to watch a Final Four game last weekend. She wasn't terribly interested in the braces. She just said, "Well, you look like a normal person who has braces."
Of the best friend's buddies was more interested and kept steering the conversation back to my wife's braces. He teased her on and off about them, but I didn't hear much of it since I was talking to someone else. When he left, though, he told me, "You must be a really happy guy!" He was being sarcastic, of course. If only he knew!
