9/26/06
At A Glance Author Cicely Contact Nicoleca318i@yahoo.com When It just happened Artist Greg Studio Eye Spy Tattoos & Piercings Location Petaluma, CA It always starts with the itch. That little notion that tells you when it's time to have another hole poked in your body. Having just gotten paid, the itch rapidly turned into a full-on rash. I knew I wanted ear work done. I had spent too much time in front of a mirror holding up different types of studs/hoops to the different parts of my ears trying to figure out what I wanted done next. I decided on an industrial for my left ear, and a snug for the right; but at an angle with the top ball being higher than the bottom. With my mind made up and the cash in my pocket, I decided I'd go the next day.
There are 2 shops that I go to. They are both about 7 miles from my house in either direction (North: Santa Rosa & South: Petaluma). So I'll usually go to who's closest or available. I like it this way because then I'm not at the mercy of one shop's availability. There were a couple times I dropped by the Santa Rosa shop during business hours and they were closed with no indication of when anyone would be back or why they were closed to begin with. I went back at a later time and the piercer had gone home sick. I came back and she was not there and I was not comfortable having someone I didn't know pierce me so I left and went to the other shop. This is why I like to keep my options open.
I had an appointment at my doctor's office that morning in Petaluma and I just thought I'd head over to Eye Spy afterward since it was a few minutes away. I then made 2 realizations: 1) that they were probably not even open that early and 2) that I was supposed to get my hair cut that day also and I did not want the barber messing with a freshly pierced ear.. especially cartilage! So instead, I went home after my appointment and browsed BME. I left a few hours later to have my hair cut. I am SO glad that I was not pierced yet. On several occasions, the barber had to fold down my ear and there were about a dozen times he bumped my ear with his hand or the clippers.
It was about 5:15pm by the time I got out of there. I was closer to the shop in Santa Rosa, but I didn't 100% feel like heading over there. I did anyway because "the itch" would not be tamed. I get all the way there and wait in the waiting room. There is one guy there doing a tattoo on someone's calf. He saw me walk in and said nothing. So I figure when he gets to a point where he can stop, he'll talk to me. I looked through the photo album at all the piercings, looked at some flash and then the jewelry. I was getting anxious. And I just didn't want to go waltzing back into the tattooing area because that's not what I'd want if I was getting inked. The guy finally asked if he could help me. I told him I was looking for the piercer and he said she went home sick and that "someone" would be in tomorrow to pierce from 12-7. Great. So I grabbed a few free condoms & left.
I was a little disappointed, but you can't blame someone for getting sick. Plus, do you really want a sickie breathing on you and making fresh holes in your body? Nahhh.. I'll pass. So I used the extra time to mull over my decisions for what I wanted done with my ears. I chickened out and decided not to get an industrial. Instead I would just get the helix piercing in such a way that I could get the second hole at a later time and link them up.
I had some other business in Santa Rosa so I came back the following day. She still was not there and I was not familiar with whoever was piercing so I opted to leave. Instead I headed over to Eye Spy in Petaluma. I wasn't nervous or anything. I just wanted to get it done! I walked in and their waiting area was full of beautiful people. They were covered in all sorts of piercings and tattoos and were laughing it up, having a great time. I just couldn't tell who worked there and who didn't. After a minute or two, everyone cleared out and I thought I was in the shop alone. I wasn't though, Greg (the piercer) was in the back piercing a girl's Monroe. It looked fantastic, she looked happy and I knew I was in a good place. He asked me what I was in for and I explained to him how I wanted half of an industrial. He laughed at me. He was like "You don't wanna just do the whole thing?" and I was like "Noo, no no." Not yet anyway. I am chicken. He laughed some more and went back to get the infamous form. He filled in his bits and I looked it over. He had written in that he was going to pierce me with a 16g 316L ss CBR. I signed and dated the form but then asked him if he would do it at 14g instead. He was totally nice about it. He said he had meant to write in 14g but that his mind was still on the previous piercing he had done (the Monroe) which I guess he did at 16g. He asked to see my I.D. and then said "come on back". The room was cozy, just enough room for the famous dentist's chair, a tray and the piercer. The walls were covered in piercing pics and posters, 2 mirrors, a sink and there was a bookshelf with a bottle of Everclear on it. I thought that was hilarious. These people know how to get buckwild. So he hands me the CBR still in it's sterilized package so I could inspect the label and look it over. Stainless Steel, 14g. It was all good. Then he gets out the rest of his supplies and sets up the tray.
We went over the kind of piercing I wanted, again, just to make sure everything's clear and he told me he was going to use his judgment for placement since I asked him to do it in a way that would allow me to make an industrial later. I said that was ok. I felt completely at ease. He swabbed the front of my earlobe with a few q-tips dipped in some "stuff" and then used new q-tips to do the back. Then I felt him make the mark, wipe it off, then make another, step back & look at it and then he was satisfied. There were no clamps or anything. I felt him move in close and I felt the tip of the needle pressing against my ear. My mind immediately took off at a million miles a second. I asked myself, "Why didn't he tell me he was getting ready to pierce?", "Isn't he supposed to ask me to inhale then pierce on the exhale?", "Is that it? Did he do it?"... Needless to say I was jumping the gun. He then said "Ok, I need you to inhale and then I'm going to-" And as soon as he said that I inhaled and when I exhaled he pierced. He didn't even finish his sentence! hahaha. It wasn't bad at all. Just a little burning. It was a fluid motion. And I literally didn't feel the jewelry transfer. I didn't even know it was in until he reached for the clamps to close the CBR. He asked me how I was doing and made sure I was ok (I guess since I hadn't made a peep. It didn't hurt!) Then I told him I was just fine. He said "See? I am good. You should have just gotten the whole industrial" :). But then he agreed with me how it would be better to do the holes separately with CBRs so that they'd be easier to clean. He asked me how I liked the placement & all and I said it was perfect. He goes "We like perfect. Perfect is good." I decided that it would be better (for my ears and my wallet) to just do the one piercing today.
He asked me if I knew how to take care of it. He suggested I use Dial soap on it a couple times a day (and in the shower). To clean it VERY WELL and turn the CBR to make sure the soap gets inside and then to rinse it VERY WELL. From my other piercings I also know to do sea salt soaks and not to use cloth towels to dry it. We were walking out back to the front and he says "Now here comes the painful part - payment". I laughed. It was funny. I guess you had to be there. He said it'd be $40. Which is better than the $50 I was expecting. I gave him $45. I felt he did a fantastic job and his bedside manner was excellent. He was friendly, knowledgeable, swift and funny. He gave me the shop card with his name/number on it and I told him I would definitely be back.
After I left the shop, it didn't hurt at all. If what I had just done hadn't been on my mind, I would have forgotten about it. I'm not at all saying that's typical. I was expecting temperature changes and wind to make it angry (like with my nostril), but it didn't. It throbbed on the way home and the left side of my head began to hurt but it was all good by the time I got home. It just stopped. And I went to ever so carefully change my top and I grazed it.. not the best minute of my life, but bearable. It's been about 5 hours and I am all bubbly and happy inside.