I suppose I am your typical teenage girl. After getting into the addiction (haha) of piercing, I always admired and envied those girls with standard navel piercings. I was jealous, needless to say, and when my shy friend, Sam, came to school and whispered to me that she sucked it up and got her navel stabbed, that jealousy grew. That night, I called my mom, and told her I wanted to get my navel done the next day. As she always does, she agreed, and asked where I wanted it done and if I needed her to call them or anything. Of course, I choose Rites of Passage One in Moline, Illinois, where I had previously had my conch pierced. She called, got everything in order, and the next day I took off from school to get this piercing I've always wanted.
At A Glance Author Brandi Contact Brandi@bme.anon IAM blackinkart When Six months ago Artist Jack Sprat Studio Rites of Passage One Location Moline, Illinois That morning I woke up around 8, and started to get ready for when my mom would come get me. Rites of Passage opens at noon, so of course I had a wait. I've always liked my stomach, and that morning while taking a shower I looked down and thought "Wow. This is the last time I'll see my navel without a piece of metal in it." I was excited! My sister ended up calling that morning, and asked if she could tag along and watch. My sister is now 23, and she was never fond of needles or getting stabbed, and it made me happy to think my beloved sister was going to tough it up and watch her little sis get poked with a needle. So of course I said yes.
My mom arrived sometime around 10:30, and we took off for my sisters house. When we arrived there, my sister told us that she needed to go to Wal-Mart and swing by the mall to pick up some things, which was fine by me. Anything to pass the time. Turns out, it didn't pass that much time. The wait took forever, but finally, noon came around, and there we were, standing outside the doors of Rites of Passage waiting for it to open.
When Jack (the piercer) finally opened the door, me, my mom, and my sister along with some guy getting his tattoo touched up went inside. As always, it was clean, and Jack recognized me from when I got my conch done. He asked what I wanted, and he gave me some forms and told me he'd like to wait until he at least started on the guy's tattoo. I was okay with that, gave me some time to think it over and spend some quality time with my untouched navel.
Finally, the time rolled around to where Jack asked me to come into the back and take a seat. I was on an all time adrenalin high, and I hadn't even got poked yet! I sat down in the chair, he told me what he was going to do, and then lifted my shirt up so he could work on me and reclined the chair. He told me it was very important that I was comfortable, and if the chair wasn't how I wanted it to be to let him know. As far as I knew, I was fine. So he cleaned me up, put on some gloves, grabbed a needle in its sterile package, and clamped me. This is what hurt.
I wasn't expecting the clamp to be that bad, and it actually wasn't for the most part except that it shocked me. I wasn't expecting it, and he never told me he was going to clamp me right then so when he did it, it scared me and I grabbed at it. He took my hands, and said "Hun, you're okay. I'm just clamping you. You can't be grabbing at my hands now." I was embarrassed to tell you the truth, so I laid back and thought of how dumb that move was. He then reclamped me, because when I grabbed it I misaligned it with the marks he had made. He let it sit there for a while for me to get used to the feeling, then asked me to tell him when I was ready. I said "Right now. Do it."
I then felt the coolest feeling I have ever felt before. I seriously felt the needle pass through layers of flesh, but there was absolutely no pain involved. I looked down and saw a needle sticking through my navel, and did a big sigh of relief.
He then took a new sterile barbell, and when he pulled the needle out he passed it through. Here it felt even neater, especially because I could feel the threads but again, there was no pain involved. It tingled a little, and it was a nice feeling. Then, he screwed the beads on and told me I could lay back in the chair as long as I felt like it. I lay there for a while with my eyes closed, thinking about what had just happened. Jack tapped me on the shoulder and I opened my eyes. He said "You could look at it you know."
I sat up, and turned to the mirror. This is the point where I knew I made a good decision. It was absolutely beautiful. A piece of unblemished metal through a part of my body that symbolizes so much. I thanked Jack and said "Wow...it's perfect."
We then talked about aftercare, I paid and tipped him, and then I noticed all the people that watched this special event unfold. The waiting room was full of people, and over half of them were watching, and one girl was actually standing in the doorway to get a better look. She had a look on her face like "Man that had to hurt." I smiled, and to ease her fears said "Oh, it doesn't hurt, at all!"
Piercings are special to me, and all of mine have a story behind them. Even though I did my navel partially through jealousy, I also did it because like I mentioned before, the navel is a place that symbolizes a mothers love to her child. It's a beautiful piercing, and it's about 8 months later and the only problem I've had is a slight infection which is now gone. I recommend it. It boosts your self-esteem and can make anyone feel beautiful. I feel so much better about my body, and I think it accentuates my stomach nicely.