At A Glance
Author	AP
Contact	alchemy.pirate@gmail.com
When	It just happened
Studio	Alien Ink
Location	Memphis, Tennessee

First of all, I'd like to get the fact that I'm a 15 year old male out of the way. I've wanted to get my ears pierced for 3 years now, but a combination of school rules and my mother's rules stopped it.

About 3 months ago, I started checking out the different tattoo and piercing shops around here, and through lots of web searches and asking around, I heard that Alien Ink had the best prices, nicest people, and cleanest environment. I finally decided there, and started asking my mom if I could get it done after school was out, and as of 3 days go, I was through with school, and my mom finally gave in.

We didn't really discuss the piercings, and she just thought I was going in there to get 18 gauge silver studs... I was thinking differently. I was already planning on stretching my lobes to 0g, given the proper time of course. I had even gone and bought some 8 gauge stainless steel pinchers in preparation. I was pumped and ready for my very first piercing.

So, yesterday morning, I woke up, ready for my big day. I ate a big pancake breakfast and made sure to look all nice for my piercing time. Around 3:30 in the afternoon, my mom got home from work, and my friend David came over. My sister was also planning to get her right nostril pierced, so we all hopped in the car and left for the tattoo shop. We finally arrived, and we went inside.

Once we were inside, my mom told the clerk that I was getting my lobes done and my sister was getting her nostril. When he asked me what I wanted done, I handed him my 8g pinchers, and my mom almost had a heart attack. She said, "WAIT. I thought you just wanted to get some cute little silver studs in your ears and leave it!" At this point, the clerk was laughing, and he informed me that they didn't have any 8g piercing needles, so I had to settle for a 10, and since they didn't have any 10g pinchers, I had to get some captive bead rings.

Anyway, after all the freaking out and form-filling out was done, I was walked back to the chair. I was starting to get nervous, and I almost flipped out when I saw how big the needle was. I never got my piercer's name, but he was an older guy with long grey hair in a pony tail, with quite an extensive collection of piercings himself. He proceeded to show me the needles, the rings, and everything that he would be using, and I watched him clean all of it, which calmed me down slightly. So, I handed my friend David my camera to film the whole ordeal, and it's now on youtube, I'll provide a link at the end. At first, the piercer, who I'll refer to as John, was going to just use a needle and no prongs, but after looking at my ear, decided prongs would work best. So, I got ready and he pronged my ear. At this point, I was squeezing the stuffed bunny that I had. John said, "Are you ready?" I nodded. "Okay, one..two...three" and he pierced my right ear. It really didn't hurt, and I have to say, it was one of the weirdest experiences I've ever had. I could hear my ear being pierced. It was so cool.

After he had corked the right needle, and cleaned the second needle, he moved to my left side. My right ear was barely bleeding, and I couldn't feel any pain, so I was ready. He said, "one.. two..." and my mom said something, and he stopped. I was getting ancy. "One... two... three" and the needle went halfway through. My stomach dropped. But, what seemed like an eternity to me was just half a second, if not less. The needle then went through after that, and he replaced the jewelry. I expected that to be painful, but in fact, I didn't feel it.

After that, I got my aftercare instructions, some h20cean, and I made sure to give John a nice 10 dollar tip, for doing such a great job. We then discussed how long to wait to stretch, how long to wait to change jewelry, and things of that sort. I have to say, I feel ecstatic about my new piercings, and I'm so glad that I got it done. It feels like the start of a long journey of bod modding for me, and I look forward to every step.

And now, today, now exactly 24 hours after I was pierced, my ears are still a little sore, but are actually healing up quite well, and I'm satisfied with my experience. thanks for reading. -AP

The link to the video of the piercing can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2p07x0ZtGo