Colin+C’s+OpEd+Article



= "Braces  : A Metaphor" = = by Colin C. = = = media type="file" key="colinc-muckraker-0910.mp3" I hate my braces. With its numerous wires, large green brackets, and uncomfortable rubber bands, they’re painful, disgusting, bothersome, and they represent many issues in my life that I dislike and have to deal with every day.

For example, these stupid metal brackets represent unpredictability in my life. Braces can make your life miserable at any time. I’ve had more sharp wires suddenly cut the inside of my mouth and more brackets suddenly break off as I ate a bowl of Cheerios than I care to count. But braces are just one of many unpredictable factors in my life. There’s the question of my future, what grades I will receive, whether or not my community service hours and SAT scores will be enough to get me to the college that I want. I hate unpredictability. I wish there was an exact formula that could tell me whether or not I can get into the college I want, so that I don’t need to stress about it anymore. I wish that I could know my fate and what I am going to become in thirty years, so that I can focus more on enjoying the present instead of fretting over the future. But no one can see into the future, and my braces remind me of that every time a rubber band snaps in my mouth because I laughed too hard.

They also represent the failed hopes that I believe in until the bitter truth is finally revealed. I remember when I was 9 and my orthodontist (whose name shall be respectfully kept anonymous… Dr. Hannah ), as he gave me my new set of retainers, said that I could potentially be done with them in a year. 3 years later, still wearing my retainer, he happily informed me that, yes, I was ready for braces for the next two and a half years! Imagine my euphoria! It’s been __three__ years since then, and I’ve sadly learned to not believe a single word that comes out of that man’s mouth. But it isn't only my orthodontist that I've grown pessimistic with. I've also begun to use this strategy with many of my expectations. When my parents respond with a wish of mine with the classic two words “We’ll see", I now automatically expect disappointment in the future, since what they always really mean is, “I’m going to pretend that it’s possible so I don’t have to deal with you being in a bad mood right now”. Optimism over realism often leads to a disillusioning once one realizes that things aren't going to go the way they hoped. It bothers me. Why can’t the absolute truth simply be stated? Why do we have to go through all the hemming and hawing instead of giving a blunt answer? But this is a part of everyone’s life, and my frustration with my Orthodontist and his false positivity, along with everyone else's, is something that I simply have to deal with.

Braces remind me of my limitations. Just like my sudden realization that eating corn on the cob with braces was a BAD idea, I’m reminded every day of what I’m unable to do. I’m horrible at sports, I can’t drive, I need to have an elaborate diagram in order to follow any instructions I'm given, the list goes on. A lot of life is realizing what you can’t do, and it's a horrible feeling when you realize that not everything is possible in life. My braces serve as a prime example of things that seem to be out of my control are keeping me from performing certain tasks. It’s a crucial lesson life, but I don’t have to enjoy it, or even appreciate it, especially since I’m reminded of it frequently.

Of course, as a contradiction to the depressing nature of my previous four paragraphs, I guess that braces can also represent some positive aspects of my life, such as the idea of pushing through one’s challenges and in order to succeed. Out of everything that has to do with braces, I especially despise the rubber bands that I am often told to wear. Though they supposedly close gaps in my teeth (I say supposedly since these gaps always seem to come back, thus forcing me to wear them again), they also 1) further sensitize my teeth, 2) become a nuisance to remember to put on after eating, and 3) make talking and laughing (two activities that frequently involve happiness) a lot more difficult than it should be. But I always wear them when told too, because I know that the end benefits of not having any flaws in my teeth for the rest of my life far outweigh three measly years of frustration (Well, more than three by this point, but I digress...). This kind of determination shows up frequently in the rest of my life, especially in school, as I work my way through a tedious essay or try my hardest to remain focused in an especially mind-numbing class (As with my orthodontist's identity, I will respectfully keep the name of this tedious class anonymous… Spanish 3 ). I know that the resulting good grade from my determination will be worth all the suffering that I went through to get it, and in this way, I guess you can say that my braces remind me that doing what is best for me is more important than doing what is easy, which would be having horrible teeth for the rest of my life.

But in the end, my braces are more of a metaphor for the negative motifs in my life than the positive ones. I patiently wait for the day when I no longer wear braces, because I think it’ll show me that despite all of the negativity that comes with braces, just like with all the negative aspects of one’s life, I can push through and end up a better person because of it.

Of course, after the braces come off, I have to wear a retainer for another year, but that’s not the point.