Best Birthday Present Ever

At A Glance Author Jenny Contact jolling_@hotmail.com Artist Crazy Dave Studio Alien&Company Location Sioux Falls, SD

Hey everybody!

I had wanted to get my tongue pierced for quite a while. It just seemed like a fun thing to do, and no one else I knew had one, so it would be different and exciting. I rather enjoy being a spectacle.

For my 17th birthday I asked my mom if I could get my tongue pierced. "Absolutely not!" was her reply. She said she didn't know what would possess someone to do something like that. I thought about for a while after that, but then the thought slowly drifter out of my mind.

Until, that is, I met my current boyfriend. He has his tongue pierced and that brought back my longing to have a metal barbell in my mouth too.

When my 18th birthday rolled around, I knew exactly what I wanted. Coincidentally, my best friend's birthday is the very day after mine, so for our birthday presents to each other we decided to pay for each other's tongue rings.

When we actually pulled up to the shop, I started to chicken out. Walking in the doors and telling them we wanted our tongues pierced made me realize, whoa, I'm actually going through with this.

The place we went was very clean and very professional. They did a very good job. (Plus there was a really hot guy working there. My friend and I keep making up excuses to go back, like getting new rings and other things we can get pierced just to see him.)

Once we got to the shop, Alison started to chicken out and decided she did not want to get hers done. (Her mom would flip out, was her reasoning.) I still wanted to get mine done and figured whatever pain I would have to go through would be well worth it in a week or so.

The best thing was though, there was no pain. It took the guy 15 to 20 minutes to explain everything and how to care for it and such, and only 10 seconds to actually pierce it. He put the clamp on, shoved the needle through, threaded the barbell, and voila! My tongue was pierced! The only thing I felt was a little prick right at first when he shoved the needle through.

After Alison saw how easy and painless it was, she decided to go through with it too. We were quite the celebrities at school the next day. Everyone was infactuated with our rings. Now a bunch more people at my school are getting theirs done because they like ours so much.

My tongue didn't even swell up that much. Alison's swelled up quite a bit though. We ate ice constantly for the first few hours after getting it done. I could talk and eat fine right away.

The only part that is not so much fun is having to clean it every time I eat. Also, you can't drink beer for a few weeks after you get your tongue pierced, because you'll get a yeast infection in your tongue. The worst part is not being able to kiss my boyfriend, because you are not supposed to engage in any oral activity for 6 weeks. (You can't give oral sex, but you can receive as much as you want, as the guy that pierced it told me.)

I'm so glad I did it. It's lots of fun to play with and show off. I catch myself rolling it along my lips and clicking it on my teeth all the time. As for my parents, they still don't know I did it. I'm going to see how long it takes them to find out. I don't know if they'd really care or not. My mom is taking my sister to get her belly button pierced and she's a year younger than me, so if she can get her belly button pierced, I should be able to get my tongue pierced, right? Besides, I'm 18, so it's not like they can do anything about it. I think they've come to expect wild and crazy things from anyway. (Believe me, I've presented way more shocking things to them than a pierced tongue.)

Most adults responded to my new jewelry in disgust. They just don't understand. My principal even (jokingly) threatened to suspend me if I didn't take it out. All the people I work with couldn't believe I did something like that. Most of the kids at school just can't get over it. The little kids always make me stick my tongue out and show them when I'm walking down the hall. The guys at school always joke with me that they can't wait for my 6 weeks to be up so they can see if it really makes a difference when giving head. (Yeah, you're really gonna find that out from me, I tell them.)

My advice for anyone thinking about getting their tongue pierced is--go for it! You won't regret it.

Now I'm thinking about getting my belly button so if anyone has any advice for me, please e-mail, because it seems like a fun thing to do. My tongue piercing didn't disappoint me, I don't expect getting my belly button pierced should either.