First off, I am no stranger to bod mod. I have 9 holes all together:
At A Glance Author Yukiko Contact Yukiko@bme.anon When It just happened Artist Dale Brown Studio Tattoos by Dale Location Hazard, KY
Two 0g ears
Two 18g lobes
One nostril
Two helixes (though one was sacrificed to my new...)
And an INDUSTRIAL!
Secondly, I'm an 8th grade valedictorian and high school honor student who never dares question authority. However, that doesn't stop me from wearing my piercings and heavy eyeliner proudly. My ultimate goal is to break all the stereotypes (sex, drugs, jail time) associated with "The Goth Scene" as my father calls it. I cannot do it alone, but I plan to make my mark on my 'lil old town.
Now, what we all came here for... MY INDUSTRIAL STORY! Everyone cheer!
Back a few months ago, I began to get that darned piercing bug again. It had been almost two years since my spontaneous nostril piercing, and I began to crave the adrenaline and pleasuring *pop* of the needle once more. I was told "No more piercing until your 18", but Mom had told me years ago that my ears were up for grabs after my two helixes. I need a new, interesting ear piece. My quest had begun.
Looking through pretty pretty plugs on Body Art Forms, I see a very neat thing. Someone got two and connected them with one barbell? Amazing! It was subtle, yet not too over-the-top (which I knew would never be allowed). Perfect.
A few months of working up the courage to ask mom, I do it. "Mom, I've been thinking for a few months, and I want to get my ear pierced again" "Ok, if it's just your ears. Let me make sure it's okay with your father." Oh My God! I can do it! I call up everyone and tell them the news, I'm getting a new mod! I was on a cloud of happiness.
Three weeks pass and I'm so freaking ecstatic! Any day now, as soon as Dad has a day off, I'm doing this thing! I read up one BME about industrials. The pain factor (though I have an incredible pain tolerance), the healing times, procedures, and of course, the HORROR STORIES filled with blood, sweat, and tears. Mixed emotions course through me: Excitement, joy, anxiety, and expectation.
My boyfriend and bestie are just as exited as I am, and they promise to come to share the experience. Josh *boyfriend* has a passion for all body modifications, though is mom has a passion for Christianity, so an 8g ear is all he wears. Miranda **bestie loves piercings and tattoos of all types, but cannot talk her parents into anything more than her ears. So they are envious of my expected industrial. As I'm talking to Josh on the phone the night before the big event, my dad comes into my room "Can we talk?" he says. "Sure, okay". I had no idea what was to come.
It was a long conversation/argument that ended in many tears, but here was the conversation in a nut shell:
Dad: I don't want you getting into that "goth" crap. Your mother and I think we have already let you do too many exotic things to yourself. People already talk about your goth appearance. You do so well in school and you are very career oriented, this image you have says the opposite. Please, don't do this to yourself. We want people to think you want to be a doctor or business person, not a druggie. I see too much of it already as a State Cop, I don't want to see it in you.
Me: Yes, I want to get piercings and wear black, but the image of all that has changed. It's not taboo and related to prison anymore. It's changing to an art form and body decoration, not a rebellion or a cry for help.
Dad: Not the way I see it everyday.
The next day, Dad enters the room again, this time to say If you can prove to me it's not a gothic image, I consider it.
Me being the cunning person I am, I go to Goggle and search prep industrial piercing and show a picture of a cheerleader with it to Dad. He looks at it, defeated. He then tells me that on our way to pick up Josh, We'll stop at Tattoos by Dale and talk about it.
I've won.
We pick up my boyfriend and stop at Dale's. Dale is a family friend of ours, and possibly the most kick-ass person to walk the earth. Aside from being a biker who is most talented at tattoos and piercing, he is also a martial arts master and can basically kill you with the touch of a finger via pressure points. His building is divided, half is a highly sterile piercing studio and the other half is a dojo complete with all the goodies. Honestly, can you think of anything more awesome? I sure can't. Anyway, we walk in. Dale is in the process of re-coloring a tattoo. Dad and Dale chit-chat for about an hour and a half (can you say PROCRASTINATION?) while Josh and I daydream in front of the jewellery case. Finally, Dad asks about the piercing. Again, here is the conversation in a nut shell:
Dad: I'm just afraid society will see here as a freak and reject her.
Dale: No, times are changing. Everyday, I get doctors, nurses, business men, and all kinds of professionals asking for tattoos and piercings. It's just an industrial, now if it was a septum or snakebites, I might reconsider it, but I see no harm in an industrial at all.
Dad: *Silent defeat.* So, how about it? You still want it?
Shit, Dad, of course!
Dale then says that he can do it anytime, even right now. Dad agrees to right now. –Double take here- RIGHT NOW! HELL YES! Dale then asks me to sit in his little chair of pain. I comply.
Dad is literally having a panic attack. Josh then jokingly begins to message Dad's shoulders (he loves to make people feel awkward) and says it will all be okay. Dale is laughing because Dad's more nervous than I am and jokes pretty hard on that. After a few minutes of prepping Dad, it's my turn.
Dale pulls out his shiny 14g needle, a receiving tube, and a few barbells varying in length. We hold a few in differing positions until I find one I like. He marks me up and readies the needle. The needle just resting on my ear, I have to say, was probably the most painful part. Maybe it was just the nerves or something. Dale tells me to take a deep breath and gather all my thoughts, and pop! I didn't know he had pushed the needle through until he said "One more to go!" This surprised me. "Deep breath and gather your thoughts" and pop! There it is. It's in. Inserting the jewellery felt very odd, I could tell where the needle ended and the barbell began. He screwed on the ball and said "There Jo, that wasn't so bad, was it? Haley, you need to take your dad out for ice cream for being a good boy later." I laughed. Dale let this be a freebie piercing (but it would have been 25$). We left. Josh says he absolutely loves it, Dad is paranoid that it hurts me and it doesn't hurt at a ll. It throbs for about an hour, but here being the day after and successfully showering and combing my hair with it, I don't feel a thing. After typing that, however, I touched it and it was a bit sore, but I just had a big needle shoved through my ear, twice!
Bottom line, VERY GORGEOUS MOFO and at a very cheap pain price. It's soooooo worth it!