another nipple piercing experience.

Yet another nipple piercing experience.

It seems that I have always been fascinated by body art.
When I was a small child in the 60's, I loved tattoos. I would squeal with delight whenever I found temporary tattoos in my box of Cracker Jack. I harassed my mother until she broke down and took the time to apply it for me. (Some of you may be too young to remember those tattoos;
all that was needed to transfer them to the skin was a bit of water (or spit, if you were desperate.) It seemed like the world was coming to an end when the transfers would accidentally get washed away.

I also was intrigued by pierced ears, and couldn't understand why only girls got to wear them. By the time I was 10 or so, I had tried to get my ear pierced at least twice, but could never go through with it. More and more men were wearing earrings, and I thought they were the coolest thing around. Well, it took another 10 years, but I finally got my ear pierced when I was 20 years old. I started with a single stud, and collected about 100 or so different earrings before they lost their novelty. Large, small, plastic, metal, classy, campy, I wore it all at one time or another. I even wore both a stud and a hoop simultaneously ( I thought it was quite daring at the time). Nowadays, I wear a simple stud or hoop, and it's all old news.

I was tempted to get a tattoo to celebrate my 30th birthday, which has long since passed. I visited a couple of parlors in Sacramento, but never found the art which I'd want to wear for the rest of my days. Maybe I'm too fussy, but it had to be just right.what if I got tired of the thing? Another concern was that I had decided to highlight
what I thought was my greatest asset , my butt, so I would rarely get a look at the tattoo once it was completed. I wanted simplicity, and a hint of "sin", not a crook in my neck from standing in a mirror to look at my butt! Besides, laser removal of tattoos is neither fun nor inexpensive.
Eventually, the urge to be inked faded, and I was content to admire others displays of living art. I simply pretended that I have a tattoo back there, and that was that.

Jump ahead a few years, to 1996. I had moved back to San Francisco (Bagdad by the Bay). I was working in a casual atmosphere, and being exposed to a large number of people with great tattoos. The new inks had a vibrancy that was missing a few years prior, and once again I considered a tattoo. I also saw quite a few individuals with body piercings, this being San Francisco and all. I thought "Interesting, but that would hurt! Definitely not for me."
A couple of acquaintances got their nipples pierced, and I still didn't see the attraction. Although I had been somewhat attracted to the novelty of pierced nipples on other people, my body was another matter altogether.

One evening I was sitting at home watching "The Crew" a funny, but very short-lived sit-com on the Fox network. One of the peripheral characters, (played by D'ondre T. Whitfield, if I'm not mistaken) decides to get his nipple pierced at the mall, where he is of course mutilated. When will people learn? Suddenly, I felt compelled to do it the right way. I began to do some research, and decided to go to Gauntlet. I had visited the store in Los Angeles several years earlier and knowing a bit of the company's history, I thought that this would be a safe place to be pierced. I paid a short visit to get a feel for the place and to look at the jewelry selection. I was careful not to look "too interested", you know being casual and all. I left that day having decided to think it over, after all, this was a big step that I was taking, I couldn't take my mind off of the idea of the pain.

I wrestled with the idea for a couple weeks, and began to sock away money just in case I got brave. I was concerned about my lover's possible reaction, as well as the eventuality of having to explain a piece of metal imbedded in my chest to my doctor. As I thought more about visiting my doctor, I realized that routinely allowed my skin to be breached every time blood was drawn. There was no fear and the pain was negligible, no big deal. Once I reached that point, the tide had turned. Suddenly I was ready to be pierced. I called Gauntlet and made an appointment for the following Sunday afternoon.

As I sat though the service at church, all I could think about was the impending date with the needle. I managed to contain myself until I reached the store, thinking "it's now or never." I marched up the stairs and went directly to the counter. "I'm here to get my nipple pierced," I said proudly. The woman behind the counter had numerous piercings. She took down my name, had me select the ring of my choice and said that someone would be with me shortly.
I wandered over to the waiting area and looked through back issues of PFIQ. Within 10 minutes, my name was called and Ruth introduced herself as my piercer.

I was led into a roomy area, where Ruth described the entire process and asked if I had any questions. When I replied that I was ready to do it. Ruth went to work and a few minutes later I was all done! I walked, no floated out of the Gauntlet with a big, silly grin on my face and a ring in my nipple.

It has been over a year since I got my body piercing. It is special to me because it signifies my small victory over fear. I'd spent hours worrying about the pain involved in getting pierced, and the actual pain was quite brief. Yes, it did hurt a bit, but I've stubbed my toe and endured worse. I think the best part of getting pierced besides that incredible endorphin rush is the fact that I can now change the jewelry at my leisure. My body art does not have to remain static. I guess now I'll find myself collecting
body jewelry. There are a few interesting pieces that I have my eye on, now I just have to begin saving up again. At present I don't feel any pressing need to be pierced again, but one never knows. Perhaps a tattoo is next on the list !

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