I do body piercing in a shop in Grand Rapids Michigan. I've been piercing for just shy of eleven years and have kind of a love hate relationship with my job. I love working with people and getting to have a new work experience everyday. I hate that my job has a pretty hard salary ceiling and it is unlikely that I'll ever make much more than I currently do in this profession, regardless of my abilities. Even with all that said, I love the people I work with and I love my job.
At A Glance Author Aric Davis Contact moseleys13@yahoo.com When Three months ago Artist Me. Studio Mos Eisleys Tattoos and Body Piercing Location Grand Rapids Michigan I've pierced pretty much everywhere you can imagine on people, I've split tongues, I've done scarring, I've done implants. I've pretty much run the gamut of what you'd expect from a piercer my age with my experience and love for the industry.
"Name Removed" came into my store a few weeks ago. He was in a walker with six wheels and was clearly physically atrophied, and asked me how much snakebites were. The term snakebite in regard to piercing (in case you live under a rock)infers paired lower lip piercings done with rings or studs, they slightly resemble a snakes fangs, and are very popular among hardcore/punk rock kids. He spoke with a strong slur and his speech sounded very deep and effort driven, but was very hard for me to understand.
Today he came back. He had a person with him who was either his care giver or his mother (I felt it would be inappropriate and unnecessary to ask as he was of age), and informed me that he wanted to have the snakebites done today.
I was initially taken aback. Not because I didn't want to do the work, but because of the situation. I knew I would have communication issues with the client, and I could tell it would be hard for him to sit still, much less deal with the pain of being pierced. I felt a lot better when I carded him, he was 19, had a wallet chain, and his arm movements revealed he was wearing a Norma Jean shirt (popular hardcore band that I think is kind of crappy but the 19 year olds love).
We walked back to my booth, and had a discussion about jewelry, figured out what he wanted and how I could make that work. It was really hard to mark the dots symmetrically because he was twitchy, but after 5 or 6 times I got the marks right. He and I agreed that it would be easier if he laid down to get pierced (I typically do lip piercings sitting up) as it would help to stabilize his head which he had a hard time keeping still.
I positioned myself for piercing one, had him breathe several times and did it. I quickly put in and fastened the jewelry, made sure he was ok, and did side two.
They turned out wonderfully. I'd love to say they were perfect, but I've never said that about my work and I never will. He was shaking and scared through the whole thing, and so was I. I quit caffeine years ago to help steady my hands, and always keep my blood sugar and water levels up for the same reason. Despite all of that, I was shaking like a whore in church the second that I fastened the second ring.
They turned out great. The first thing he did was to shake my hand. I have to admit, it was a pretty weak handshake. All things considered, I'll never shake the hand of a man that tough again. We covered aftercare, and I made sure the person with him got it all too. I was washing up,when our counter person brought me a ten dollar tip that he left me, which is when it all kind of crashed home.
The young man that I pierced today is solid mentally. He is strong physically (minus his disability of course). He likes good music. He wants to be a normal punk rock kid. He wants to be pierced and tatted and do all sorts of stupid crap.
He is me, except I'm not handicapped. I've never felt so humbled, and I hope that I helped him feel normal. I cried at work today, and felt very happy about it. It was the first time in a long time this job truly made me feel that I was doing something that mattered.
Two month update:
Update!!!!!
Today was not a walker day for my friend, today was a cane (one of those ones with four feet). He came out to get his rings switched to a smaller diameter (lips swell, duh). He was just as much fun if not more to talk to, except he clearly has his ears to the ground better than I do for up coming punk shows. This fucking kid humbles all of us.