Wednesday, October 21, 2009

What might happen if you get your cartilage pierced...

I wasn't allowed to have my ears pierced when I was growing up. Somebody said "you already have enough holes in your head..." I don't consider myself a jealous person, but I did envy my fancy, pierced-ear friends . I also envied my friends who had Barbie dolls--another thing forbidden for me. I'm glad to say that I actually did survive not having Barbie dolls--they were highly overrated, and I think my parents were ahead of the times with that one. I did very well without those extra holes in my head, too. (At 21, a few months before my wedding, I had them pierced so I could wear pearls on my special day.) I probably wear earrings a few times a month at best, so I guess you could say I'm not one bit damaged by being "deprived" as a kid.

All that said, there was a part of me that wanted to prove that owning Barbies and wearing earrings weren't all that bad for a growing girl. My three girls were allowed to have Barbies and they each had their ears pierced by the time they were in middle school. My girls never even liked Barbies, they were much more the American Girl type. My guess is that maybe one or two of my three girls is wearing earrings today, and they could probably live with or without them. We're just not that into accessorizing.

But, just like me, my daughters try to push the envelope sometimes. I wouldn't say they are jealous types, either, but it's natural to look at your friends and think about things they have that you just might like. When we were living in England a few years ago, my 17 year old daughter wanted her cartilage pierced. I really, really didn't want her to do it, but decided that it probably was one of those battles not worth fighting.

We went to Claire's boutique--those stores are everywhere. The young man who filled out her paperwork seemed very, very thorough and attentive. Each step of the way, he consulted with his supervisor. This made for a pretty long ordeal, but there's nothing like good customer service. We definitely didn't feel rushed that day. When he was finally ready to pierce her cartilage, I positioned myself between racks of earrings and barrettes and held my breath. I am certain that I felt every bit of the pain that Anna felt that afternoon.

As we were finishing up the piercing routine, collecting the requisite ear cleaning solution and being offered some sort of extra warranty, the piercer dude proudly mentioned that Anna was his first ever cartilage customer. My stomach sank. That's probably not a club you want to be a charter member of. The back of her earring was sort of sticking out toward the front, but she had won her right to have just one more hole in her head....

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