Almost all of my local friends now know about my belt, and it hasn't been a problem at all!
I'm not one to restrain my behavior much. I exchange hugs with friends. If there is a hot tub, I'm likely to be the first one in. I even went skinny dipping with some friends, or rather they skinny dipped and I stripped down my belt.
I knew this was unavoidable once I started wearing it permanently, so I had a little fun. Rather than telling friends about it, I let them discover it. I didn't make a big deal out of it, and after they chuckled and asked a question or two, they didn't make a big deal of it either.
Most interesting questions:
- Does your wife make you wear that?
- Doesn't that get cold when you swim in the cold river?
- I've never seen one of those. Can I try it on some time?
This seems to indicate that discovery by others is not guaranteed to be a negative event.