At A Glance
Author	Jay Lee
Contact	jesslee@shaw.ca
When	It just happened
Artist	Erynn (a.k.a. E-ron)
Studio	Adrenaline Piercing and Tattoo
Location	Vancouver

I am Asian.

That's right. And, being Asian, and a girl nonetheless, I am height challenged (my head is often used as an armrest) as well as a little shy. Much to my chagrin, as a small, somewhat quiet Chinese girl, I have developed a bit of an image of being "cute", which I cannot stand.

That being said, I've always found facial piercings fascinating, for they can serve many purposes – from adding a touch of elegance, to a rebellious edge, or even a foreboding aura to a person. Such is the power of a piercing to be an extension of its owner and a vehicle for self-expression. And such is the reason for why I've always yearned for one to call my own. I am no stranger to piercing, but unfortunately, with strict and traditional Chinese parents, as well as with a strict and traditional dress code at a strict and traditional Catholic school, a facial piercing was out of the question. Also, as a supervisor at the place where I work I had to keep a decent appearance.

Out and about with two coworkers one day on one of our few-and-far-between outings, we stopped at Adrenaline Piercing and Tattoo on Granville, where I'd gotten my double navel piercings done. Now you must understand that every time the three of us go on an outing, I have gotten something pierced at this shop. One of my coworkers felt on a whim like getting her helix pierced, and I had a strange desire to get something pierced too. I was kind of bummed because one of my navel piercings had rejected, but it hadn't healed enough to get repierced.

While my coworker got her helix, done I ran my mind over the different facial piercings I could get. I had sometimes had fleeting thoughts of a septum, for I love the way they look on the face of a person and seem to give them an aura of "Do I look f*cking cute to you?" (versus the traditional nostril piercing that is just now way too common), but I never thought I would have the nerve to get it done.

Then, on a rush and a whim, I slammed my fists down on the table and said, "Damn it, I'm getting my septum!" I didn't feel like I was in my body when I said this – I felt like I was watching and hearing myself say it. This surreal feeling continued as I flew through filling out the forms, and I felt like a walking feather as I stepped into the piercing room. Erynn, my piercer, was happy to have me back, and, as always, she was filled with child-like excitement and energy at the prospect of me continuing my mod journey. She led me in my dream-like state (which I later renamed the Septum Rush) to the familiar hospital-clean piercing room, where she opened up all the sealed equipment before my eyes, changed gloves, and used her pinkies to find the "sweet spot", commenting on how my nose was very small. Changing gloves again, she marked my nose to ensure the piercing would be straight. Changing gloves AGAIN, she told me that she would pierce me sitting upright, but then ask me to lie down to insert the jewellery.

Then the clamps came. I had never been pierced using feeder clamps before, and the size of them compared to my nose seemed horrifyingly huge. I had heard and read stories of how painful clamps are (some even claimed that they were more painful than the piercing) and for a brief moment, my ethereal mood gave way to a fluttery, slightly frightened heart. But the clamps were nothing – they merely felt like cold (albeit slightly uncomfortable) steel pressed up inside my nose. Then it was time for the needle, which seemed really rather long and a little too close to my face for comfort, but there was no turning back.

At this point my mind and heart were racing, though still in my Septum Rush. I had done some research (as any Asian is wont to do) to find out how much septum piercings hurt compared to other piercings. This research had been inconclusive, seeing as how about half the stories I read said that the septum was the most painful, EXCRUCIATING piercing EVER. The other half said that it was nothing.

"Take a deep breath," Erynn said.

I must tell you now that I have a strange habit of blanking out whenever I am pierced, at the exact moment the needle goes through. I can tell you, though, that all the stories of excruciating pain are false (assuming the piercing is done correctly and not too low – when the piercing has gone right through the "sweet spot" it doesn't feel like anything at all). After I'd blanked out for the couple milliseconds or so that the needle had taken to go through, I looked down at my nose, cross-eyed.

I had a f*cking NEEDLE through my NOSE.

"Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit..." I chanted, but aside from my shock at having a needle through my nose, I was fine. There was no pain (it felt like a slight pressure at most), my eyes hardly watered at all, and I felt no urge to sneeze (though for some reason I got a case of the giggles and started laughing madly, and couldn't stop. Go figure). I then was told to lie down as Erynn inserted the jewellery, a little baby CBB, and screwed on the balls. Again, no pain, just a slight pressure.

"And you're done," Erynn said with a sly grin. "That was an awesome septum!"

I looked at myself in the mirror. What I saw was beautiful. It was perfectly straight.

The worst part of the whole thing was what came next – Erynn's voice from behind me saying, "Aw! That looks so CUTE on her!"

My first thought: Crap.

Though it didn't have the foreboding look I'd wanted it to, I love it and will later replace the baby CBB with something a little less "cute" in the future. The staff at Adrenaline gave me aftercare instructions and then told me to come back in two weeks for a check up on the septum – such awesome people. For now, it's flipped up and is my little secret – My Septum Rush.