day was, as it will hereafter be known, The Big Day. My appointment at Tribal Ways was for 3:00, and with a friend by my side, we set off down Newbury Street...well actually, we left Harvard Square late and got off the Copley T at exactly 3:00, realized the piercing place was waaaay down the other end of the street, and sprinted down Newbury Street, dodging tourists, dogs, and small children, as well as parking meters. Fortunately, my sweat-inducing journey to Tribal Ways had no further bearing on what would happen next-though I was afraid that due to being 5 minutes late they would be unable to pierce me, I knew that fate was on my side. Actually, I just knew that if they couldn't do it I'd probably burst into tears. So. There were a few people getting bellybutton piercings who actually went before me, and then there were 2 cancellations, thus freeing up time for lovely little me, who found herself sitting on a couch with a very small chihauha and 2 trembling adult women. I was given an aftercare sheet, then Steven (I think that's his name..) talked me through the sheet. He was really helpful because he was very straightforward about the aftercare procedures but also answered my questions.
I'm used to stuff like this; I had braces twice, the first time being when I was 8 years old, and had to sit through something quite similar. Same goes for contact lenses and knee brace. So I'm a veteran of the Do's and Do Not's and Never's talks. I must say that by this time, though I was kind of nervous about the procedure to come, I felt very confident that I would have no problems following the basic and essential instructions. I had already made a mental list of the stuff I needed to pick up at my local pharmacy to make everything work smoothly. Pretty soon it was my turn. I took one last reassuring glance at the medical certificates on the wall, one last glance at the clipboard bearing the contract which I had signed, and followed Aaron into the piercing room. I have never seen anything cleaner. I have been in hospital operating rooms that are more cluttered. My orthodontists' office was less sterile. This was professional. I was very, very impressed. My feeling of being much like poor old Bob Flanagan in the Nine Inch Nails "Happiness In Slavery" video went away. I realized, hey, they obviously have a really good idea of how to do this, I know how to handle it, and that's that. I also knew in my heart that it wouldn't hurt any more than tearing my ACL snowboarding, falling off my skateboard, getting my braces tightened, or falling on the sharp rocks outside and needing stitches in my leg. Aaron explained exactly what he was going to do. First he cleaned my eyebrow off extremely thoroughly. Then he marked the enter and exit holes for the piercing, had me check it in the mirror, and then he clamped it. The clamp part felt kinda funny at first but I got used to it. Then he put the needle through after having me take a deep breath and release it when he told me to. This was surprisingly un-painful. All it really felt like was accidentally grabbing skin with tweezers while plucking my brows instead of brow hair. Then he corked the needle. I could feel the cork against the side of my face. It was, overall, a very sensory experience, and I actually felt very relaxed. A few minutes later, after he put the jewelry in (a small 18 gauge silver hoop with a silver ball), he said I could open my eyes. So I did...and there it was! My first thought was, "Wow, that looks like it's always been there. And it's so cute!" It didn't hurt at all; I could feel the pressure of the ring and see it slightly out of the corner of my eye, but there was no pain. Aaron asked if I felt light-headed or anything; I said no, just really hungry (this was undoubtedly from my mini-marathon down Newbury Street). Then he said I was all set, so my friend and I bade him farewell, talked baby-talk one more time to the chihauha, and then we were on our way. My next big adventure was going to CVS and buying the stuff I'd need to take care of my piercing. I have recently given up dairy products, thus receiving the "You're going to die of malnutrition" lecture from both my parents, so right away I figured that vitamins would be a good idea anyway. In addition, the aftercare sheet mentioned Vitamin C and Zinc as being very beneficial for the healing process, so I picked up some of that, the zinc also containing calcium (good for a veggie like me!). Then I got some Ivory soap, some absolutely pure cotton balls, one of those little squirt bottles for my hot water rinses, and....ahem. Why is their one remaining bottle of Bactine missing a seal? I drilled the cashier about this and we determined it had indeed been tampered with. So I paid for everything else and went over to Walgreen's. At Walgreen's, I found that they did not have the bottles of Bactine, just the spray, but I figured that I could just spray it onto the cotton ball and it would be a non-issue...a non-issue that cost 2 dollars more! Oh well, all in the spirit of good hygiene and fast healing. So I bought that, and that evening I did my first little aftercare ritual. It went very smoothly. I slept well and didnt' worry about rolling over onto the piercing, and now I'm getting ready to clean it again. I guess you may be wondering, how did my parents react? Well, I had talked to them A LOT previous to getting it done...initially I had wanted my tongue pierced but I changed my mind on that because it was too expensive and seemed to have some unwanted risks involved; also, my parents were more inclined to let me do my eyebrow. After determining this and finally getting them to say, "We don't like this decision but we'll let you do it," I did it. I was actually surprised because my mom admitted, "It's kinda cute actually" as did my dad. I'm very glad that they reacted the way they did, but I'm also glad that I was able to do this all by myself as a responsible 18-year old adult. I have found that the stares I get for having spikey blue hair and an eyebrow ring are only out of curiosity and not disgust; even my brother seemed semi-fascinated by the ring and suddenly stopped telling me that he hopes it gets infected. In conclusion, I found this experience to be rewarding to me, and I am quite happy with my piercng. For fifty dollars plus the additional cash for aftercare supplies, I definitely got what I wanted-a helpful, professional, responsible piercing place, sufficient information on how to take care of my piercing, and even some extra calcium in my vitamins.