I had thought off and on about having my ear pierced as early as elementary school. My grandpa and my uncle both had theirs done, which was unheard of in the 80s. But my dad was very conservative and said that while I was living home, he wouldn't let me do it.
At A Glance Author anonymous Contact anonymous@bme.anon When Five years ago Studio HTC Location Tempe, AZ USA Of course, college is that wonderful time in a person's life when hopefully, people can experience new things in new places. Alas, I would be able to get my ear pierced! Although by this point, I didn't think about it all that much. I guess now that I was able to, I didn't really care about it.
At the beginning of my sophomore year at Arizona State University, I started as a resident assistant. During the first few weeks of school, one of the other RAs told me that he was going to get his ears pierced for his birthday. This was all I needed to start to get the idea in my head again! I thought about it and decided this was the time. He and I decided to go and I enlisted another friend to come and join me.
The only tough decision I had now was to decide what to pierce. He was getting both of his lobes pierced. I was debating one lobe, two lobes, or my cartilage. I liked the look of earrings, but I also wanted something that wasn't too obvious so that if I had to dress up in a suit and tie, I would still look presentable. Thus, I decided that both lobes might not be what I was looking for. Then I thought that one lobe was pretty commonplace, so I decided to get my cartilage pierced.
When we arrived at the studio, it was nothing like I had expected. I don't really know what I thought it would be like; maybe I pictured a dark, dingy place that was not in the best of shape. But this studio was bright. The most reassuring part was that it smelled very sterile. I was not the slightest bit afraid of infection or anything like that. I went up to the counter, found a hoop I liked, picked it out, and started to fill out all of the wonderful paperwork.
This was the worst part. The anticipation of waiting to go into the room and have a needle inserted through the top of my ear. After I finished the paperwork, I just sat there, in the lobby, and waited. It only lasted maybe five minutes, but I didn't care. I wasn't accomplishing anything by waiting and I just wanted to get in there and get pierced already! Quickly and painlessly were my two goals.
Eventually, a skinny brunette called my name. I followed her into her station. She explained to me what she was going to do. First she sanitized my ear with an alcohol swab, then she got her needle. I clenched the side of the chair, inhaled as she put the needle through my ear and then... it was over. Was that seriously it?? The earring was in my ear and it felt fine. Sure, it stung a little bit, but that was all the pain I incurred. I was amazed and pleasantly shocked. I met up with my friend who had his two lobes pierced and we returned to our dorm.
My first stop was naturally to show it off to my parents. Boy, was that fun! They lived nearby, so it was only a 15-minute drive. First, I visited my mom at the school in which she teaches. School had just gotten out, so I went to her classroom. Talk about good timing! She was talking to her assistant principal when I walked up and pointed to my ear. She asked me if it was real, and I told her of course it was. Then I left. I guess you could say she wasn't too happy with me at that point.
My ear stayed red for a while, but I soaked it in sea salt nightly and eventually it was ok. I left it in for about two years, until I had an internship at the Governor's office in Arizona. the only problem I ever had with it was one time I played a football game and had to take it out. Naturally, I lost the ball that connected it. I had to buy a new ball and had the same studio re-pierce my ear. At that point, I figured I didn't want to risk it. I would like to get an earring again one of these days. It has been a little more than two years since I took it out, and I don't regret taking it out, but I do hope that at some point, I can act spontaneously enough to get it done again.