I am not sure if the actual event of getting pierced or all the drama around
it was more exciting. I think it was about a week after I turned 18, and like
most things I do it was spur of the moment. I was sitting around bored and
decided to go get myself speared. So...mind you I had recently gotten my
driver's licensee and by far, I was not the greatest driver. I picked up
another friend in my crappy Ford Tempo (not to be highway driven, but I am the
rebel so damned if I would listen) and I jumped on I-55, headed for Jade
Dragon. Sweaty palmed and nervous and all that fun stuff, not so much because
I was worried about anything hurting, any intelligent human being knows a
needle ripping through your flesh is not going to tickle. Anticipation seems
to be an obsession of mine. I like to torture myself with it I guess. When
that anticipation is over it is the greatest feeling in the world. After
driving aimlessly through the loop, we get there. We go inside and sign our
rights to complain away on a little sheet of paper, prove we are not some
underage twelve year olds and then head back to the studio area.
Luckily I
got the nice fatherly type guy & my friend got the scary, large man that would
have crushed me. At this point I realized I am here, I am doing this and it is
not gonna kill me. Bitching out has never been an option for me so now I was
just waiting.
I watched him open the needle, kind of looked like the
sewing machine kind, the little cork to catch the needle upon the exit and
the tweezer-like clamps. It was all pretty mechanical as far as the procedure
goes. (That is usually good to, if the piercer knows what they are doing & has
a good technique, you are not as tense, naturally) The drill for the procedure
is pretty minimalist: unzip the jeans, put your hands under your ass so
reflexes don't cause you to impale the poor guy if you flinch and he does his
thing. At this point I am dangling backwards off a dentist-type chair and can
not see too much of anything, except for the blue ceiling, so I am not too
preoccupied with any sharp metal objects near my abdomen. He swabs it with
disinfectant (alcohol or iodine) clamps, mark and counts to three. I feel
pressure and assume it is the clamp. Then I see the clamp is off & he is
bending the hoop and bead together. I figured it must have looked a hell of a
lot worse than it actually felt, because my non-participating friend look like
a ghost and was nearly in shock. Weak stomach I guess. I pay, tip I am out of
there for now. That is when things get funny. I go outside to a dead battery
in my car & some goofy drunken pollacks trying to grope us. So my advice, do
not worry about pain from the needles. Worry about weird men jumping in your
car and looking like a fool going back in to get a jumper cable from someone
who just seen you spazing like a child. (Oh yeah as far as aftercare & all
that, if they give you bacitracin or any petro-based ointment, I would venture
to say do not use it, it just seems to trap in bacteria and all that nice
stuff and make you ooze, not pretty at all.) I have had it for about 3 years
now, and it is an aesthetic piercing, it has no real use other than to adorn
the stomach. So there would not be much for me to say further.
And since
this is pretty short and sweet I'll give a bit more advice/opinion. This was
pretty much the start of a fascination with body art & the like. People's
opinions on this subject vary. Extreme to one person is weak to another. In
the end, though it is your bodies so do not do something regretful. Do not do
something because everyone else thinks it is cool, and on the flip-side don't
not do it because people tell you it is passe'. I have a few more holes that
don't constitute as much and a tiny bit of ink at the moment, but it has
nothing to do with a lack of dedication to the art of body modification but
more the dedication to myself that I am not going to put something
meaningless on or in my flesh. (Kids...this is primarily why you have to be
18 or over to get any type of mods...if you are going to scam and get
something, make sure you want it!)If you like the aesthetics of something, do
it.
