I was finally the legal age to get a piercing done with out a 'parental signature' on my waver. Not that this place checked, because I had been getting pierced there since I was 14, but their 'legal age' was 16.
At A Glance Author socksw-toes Contact socksw-toes@bme.anon When Two years ago Artist I think her name was Lisa, I could be wrong. Studio Aardvark Body Adornment&Custom Jewellery Location 319 KingE, Hamilton, ON It was time for something new and different, I had got my tragus pierced and I was on my way to having 6g plugs, the world was looking at my ears saying, what next? Or at least I was...
One day at a near by Wendy's at my home in Burlington this boy who was serving us had the most amazing piercings in his ears, and I fell in love them right away, specifically one of them. I asked it him what it was called, and he said to me,
"Oh that one up there, that's called a rook." And he smiled, "Do you like it? It's one of my latest."
"I sure do," I replied, and thought to myself. He has the most amazing ears I've ever seen, maybe one-day; mine will be as cool as his will. I said my thanks, and went home to eat my pita.
Little did I realize that this boy did have many piercings in his ears, and it did not occur to me that I may have been thinking one thing, and he of may be telling me another. This right here, is a note to do your research when getting new piercing.
Well that night my friend Lauren and I talked of many things and one of which was to get a 'friendship' piercing. People get the same tattoos to show their friendship for one another, so we thought why not with piercings? We called around to places that night, and realized that we had no money.
We decided on getting them in the summer time, because by this time she would also be 16, thus being able to sign her ear away, and we would both have some extra spending cash. This was a great way to end the summer, so we called up our friend Kendra and planned the big trip to the steel city of Hamilton.
Since we were only 16, the only one who had her license was our friend Kendra, we asked kindly and she was all for this trip. She had wanted to get her belly button pierced as well, but her parents were not approving of a group of young girls going into the big city, (which is not all that big in comparison to Toronto). So we did what all the cool kids did. We took the city bus, and for one twoonie we were there in no time. It actually took 45 minutes to get to a city that is only 15 away by car, but that's Burlington Transit for you.
It's the day of the big event, and of course we did not call ahead to book an appointment. We assumed that on a Saturday afternoon would be a good time. We were obviously wrong, when we learned that there was a three-hour wait for the piercer. In that time we looked at the earrings and we talked to the receptionist about some of her piercings.
We said we would be back, and we roamed downtown Hamilton for an hour or two and came back all ready to go.
I was the first to sign the waver, not having to prove that I was finally 16. I went into the back room, she was playing some scary Goth music that I was not into, and she could tell this by the look on my face. She asked me if there was something else I would rather listen to, I thought to myself; I might flinch if I am listening to these freaky tunes. I immediately nodded yes. I put in some Less Than Jake, and I was a happy girl. She told me exactly what she was going to do, asked what side I wanted it on, why I wanted it, and I told her that my friend and I were getting our rooks done as our friendship piercing. She liked that idea, and said she might do it her self, another good reason to get another piercing. She said she liked the idea behind it, it made her smile.
She told me that my ears were small, but she would be able to do it, it was not going to be far out, in was going to be closer in. I said I was fine with that, and then realized that this piercing was not going to be where I saw it on that boy so long ago in Wendy's, it was lower and in closer at the top of my ear. I was confused. I was not sure if I was cool with it at this point, she had let my friend come in with me to watch the procedure, so I looked at her and gave her the questioning nod of, "Is this cool with you?" She smiled and nodded, because we had never seen this piercing before, so we were down for something new and interesting.
The piercer cleaned the area and said that breathing is key, I laid back and relaxed. The scraping of the tools sounded like two eggs being rubbed together, but oddly it did not bother me. I looked over at Lauren, her eyes lit up with excitement, I could tell she liked what was happening, and the look of it. And that it was going to be a wonderful looking piercing. I was glad when things turned out well, for both of us.
She got hers pierced, too, and then we had run out of time and had to head back home. My other friend had decided on getting her belly button done at another place that was cheaper.
A few months later, my rook was doing well, and I was at a local concert. I saw a friend, who was wearing a knitting sweater, I went to hug him hello. Being the height I am, my head was at his chest, so I leaned in and hugged. During this time my horse shoe earring decided to catch on to the yarn of his sweater. I pulled away, and screamed in pain. He thought it was a fun way to show him my latest piercing. But this lasting sign of pain made him realize he was wrong and I was hurt. My rook had been slightly torn down in the cartilage, and it hurt badly. I soon went home and looked into the mirror, you could see about a millimeter difference of where it had once been and where it was now. This was not right, but I proceeded to clean it and care for it as I once had, it just happened to be lower now. A month went by and things were not getting any less painful for my ear, I called Aardvark and told them what happened. They told me that the earring was being rejecting by my e ar. So, I was very gentle with it, but it just kept coming down millimeter by millimeter. I told myself, that I was going to keep it in until the end of the month, and if things kept getting worse, I was just going to take it out.
A few days after that decision I was in the shower and it is a common fact that your skin gets softer with heated water. This also goes for the skin in your ears, I was cleaning my earrings, moving my others around a little bit, and then something fell into my hand. It was a horseshoe earring.
I realized what had happened and got out of the shower, wiped some mirror fog away and looked at my ear. There was no blood, for it had been out of cartilage for weeks now, just a little opening. Like a bite, taken out of my ear.
And that little bite is now a scare, and I still have it, to prove that I once had a really wonderful rook piercing, that did not agree with my body.
As the years went on, I learned that the original piercing I wanted was called an orbital, the boy from Wendy's also had this one. They were beside eachother.
I'm 19 now, and have many more additions to my ears, and in a few weeks I intend to get that orbital, it is a long time over due, I think. And that same friend Lauren is getting it done, with me. Another friendship piercing, that hopefully will last.