At A Glance
Author	anonymous
When	Three months ago
Location	Los Angeles

I'd like to start by introducing myself. My name is Ryan, and I'm a 17 year old guy living the UK. I attend a public school (independent) in Cambridge, so for me getting my ears pierced was a fairly big step.

Ever since I was young, I liked the idea of having something pierced, and thought guys looked good with pierced ears. I remember asking my parents if I could have my ear pierced when I was about nine, to which they said that only women are 'supposed' to have their ears pierced...which of course is just not right.

So, when I was fifteen I started noticing that loads of guys have their ears pierced, as well as things like their eyebrows, lips, nipples and so on. This was when I decided that I definitely wanted my ears pierced. Now all I had to do was get passed my parents. I knew that if I asked them they would just get all angry and start shouting, so I decided not to ask them, but to just go ahead and get them pierced.

After a year of waiting and getting up the courage, I finally decided to get them done when I was in Los Angeles last summer on a work experience thing, when I was 16, but I had to wait until after I finished work, which gave me five days at the end of a six week stay in which I could get my ears pierced.

Well, I finished working, earned a ton of money and had five days to explore LA on my own. Throughout my six weeks, I had already spotted a few tattoo and piercing studios, so I decided to go back to one of them, which wasn't too far from my hotel. I must admit I still wasn't sure, as I was worried what people at school would say, as people are generally from well-to-do families where boys don't get piercings. However, I ploughed ahead, and three days before I was due to leave LA I walked into a studio down town (I can't remember the name of it now) where a guy called Chad introduced himself and asked what I wanted.

Chad was a tall guy, with his ears gauged to about a two I'd say, with a stud in each lobe next to them, and both the tops of his ears pierced twice. He also had his eyebrow pierced, and his labret, as well as (he told me later) one of his nipples, so I figured he knew enough about piercing for me to talk to him.

I explained to him that I was there from the UK and that I was going back in a few days, and said that I had been wanting to get my ears pierced. But here's where my big plan began to backfire. He said that because I was only 15 and had no parent with me, he would not be able to pierce my ears! Which of course pissed me off! I had just got the courage to get them done, when I was now being told that I couldn't have them done!

The chatted to Chad for about an hour, and eventually he said he would pierce my ears, as long as I didn't tell anyone it was him. (Luckily, the studio was pretty quiet so there was no one around to notice.) I said I wouldn't and he asked me what sort of earrings I wanted. Well, of course, here I started to get nervous again.

I told him I wanted something that looked stylist, but not too big, but something that people would notice. He showed me a pair of 7mm, round diamond studs, which he said would look good on me, so I decided to go with those.

He took me back to one of the rooms, and told me to sit (or lie should I say) on this big leather chair, rather like one that you would find at the dentists. I lay back in it, with my stomach churning, but I had to go ahead because this was my choice, and has nothing to do with anyone else back home.

So, Chad cleaned my ear lobes and marked on two dots, one on each ear, where the earring would go (or rather, where the hole through my ear for the earring would go). I looked in a mirror and they seemed straight. He told me to lie back in the chair, which I did, and he then got a needle and came and sat on a stool next to me, wearing a pair of white gloves.

Now, I wasn't sure whether this would hurt, so was a little nervous. I felt him press the needle against my left lobe, and then he suddenly pushed it through. There was a little pain, but not as much as I had imagined. He left it there while he spun round the other side of the chair and pushed another needle through my right ear. I felt a little strange sitting there with needles sticking through my ears, but he said this was the way he pierced everybody's ears.

He left them in for about five minutes, and then he took the one out of my left ear, and put the diamond stud in, and then did the same with my right ear. At this point they were tingling a bit, but I sort of liked the feeling, and I was glad I had had my ears pierced.

I sat up and looked in the mirror. They looked good, Chad even said they did. I was happy. I had my ears pierced and wore a cool diamond stud in each ear. Over the next few days I cleaned them and everything, just like you're supposed to.

When I got home, my parents saw them straight away and my dad went mental, while my mum said it was my choice, that she expected 'better of me' but knew she couldn't change the fact that I now wore earrings. After a few days my dad calmed down and got used to me wearing earrings.

People at school didn't judge as much as I thought they might. They said they suited me, and since then two other guys have also had their ears pierced.

Now, a year later, I have a pair of silver hoops (not too big) that I wear, or I still wear the diamonds that I had when they were first pierced – I love my earrings. This summer I am going to Australia for six weeks to travel, and while there I plan to get my ears pierced again. I have also started thinking about tattoos, but will wait until I am absolutely sure.

So, if you're thinking about piercing your ears but are worried what people will think, don't. Go ahead and pierce your ears, people will get used to it!

PS

I'd like to ad that it's not really a good idea to get your ears pierced under age, as it is illegal...especially in CA! Get permission from your parents!