I had wanted a tattoo for such a long time, but people were always trying to talk me out of it. So the night before I got my piercing, I was talking to some people at my job about what I should get tattooed on me. Everyone told me not to get one, because the stretch and fade and get all ugly when get old. I started to get scared and I was beginning to believe what they were telling me.
At A Glance Author Kim.is.green Contact Kim.is.green@bme.anon Artist Dale Studio Big City, Studio 1482, Tattooing Location PB in San Diego, CA I wasn't too sure about getting a tattoo anymore, and I started to think about getting a piercing. I thought about getting my belly-button pierced, my tongue pierced, my lip pierced, my eyebrow pierced, even my nipple pierced...but what I decided I really wanted was my nose pierced. It couldn't be anything outrageous because my boss at work would not let me get away with it. I knew she would not be happy with me getting my nose pierced either, but I was passionate about getting it.
My boyfriend and I decided to go look at prices in the beach community of San Diego, called Pacific Beach (since that is where he lives anyway). The first place we went to bought me right away. This guy came out, Dale, and asked if we had any questions. I looked at him and could not help from smiling. He looked really nice, even though he had a tattoo on every inch of his body excluding his face, and big rings in his ears and tongue, he just seemed like a really caring man. My boyfriend started asking him all kinds of questions like, "Does it hurt bad?" "How long will it take?" "Can she get a small screw or does she have to get a ring?" "Will it be really red for a long time, because she has to get to work in an hour?" "How many times have you gone thing?" "What do you use to pierce a nose with"...etc. Dale insisted that he was the best at nose piercing, and that he would be fast and it would be almost virtually painless. I was reluctant at first, I mean I was scared to death, who wouldn't be?
I began to remember when I was little, age 5, and I got my ears pierced. I was so scared that I cried though the whole session. Then when I was 15 I got the third and fourth piercing in my ears and I was so scared that it would hurt so I was shaking really badly. That made them pierce my ears all crooked, it was pretty bad.
I really was shaky, and I did not know if I would chicken out. He told me to take my time and thoroughly think it through. I thought about what my boss would say, and what my mom would say and what everyone else would think...especially my grandparents.
I was still really shaky, but I knew that I wanted it really bad. So I signed the waver form and he showed me to my seat. He said that it would be fast and he told me not to move. I couldn't help shaking. I wanted to leave and make it all disappear. I really didn't want to be in that situation.
I gritted my teeth and he put the clamp in place. I felt the tears already running down my face. He said that he was almost done and to stop moving. I could not help it...I did not want to feel that pain! He stuck the needle in and it hurt, not as bad as I had expected, but it did hurt. He said he was almost done and to stop moving my lips. I could not tell that they were moving, so I tried to make them hold still.
He stuck the screw in and said he was done. I bravely wiped the tears out of my eyes, paid him, and walked out to the car. I was pretty darn proud of myself.
So my boyfriend drove me to a drug store to bug some disinfectant and some q-tips. And we stopped by my friend's work to show her. We looked at the time and realized it was time to get going to work. My boyfriend drove me to work and I sat in the passenger's seat cleaning the new wound in my nose. It stung, but I didn't let it bother me.
We finally made it to work with a few minutes to spare, so I talk to my boyfriend about how I was scared that my boss might be really mad at me for piercing my nose. He told me not to worry and that he would help me find another job if I need to get one.
I walked in to work with my head held high. I wanted to let her know that I was not going to let her control my personal life. I was right in saying that she would be mad, she was pissed. I tried to defend myself and I told her that I could not take it out for at least three weeks. She gave me a grin and said "do not be surprised if you are not scheduled to work for the next three weeks." I just smiled and nodded my head. I was not going to let her tell me that what I did was wrong. This was my body and I did not want people thinking that they could control what I did to my own body.
It was worse after I got off work, because now I had to deal with my mom. I called her prior from work and told her that I had pierced my nose. All she said was "I can not control your mistakes". I did not like that response, it made me really mad. So, after work she picked me up. I got into the car and she gave me this look, that look that says "you crossed the line this time". I laughed, I could not help it. She said that it was not good that I thought it was ok to do something that she forbid and laugh about it. I got really upset and said "I am 18 now mom, and you can not tell me that I have to get your permission for everything that I do anymore, when are you going to start treating me like an adult". She did not talk to me for the rest for the car ride home, and the next day, and the next and it happened like this for the next couple of weeks. I eventually replaced the silver screw for a clear one so that my boss would not be mad at me anymore and then my mom started to talk to me again.
I do not regret getting my nose pierced. I like the attention that a piercing gives me. The questions about if it hurt and if it feels funny in my nose. I like the way it looks on me. Now I am finally thinking about getting that tattoo.