Piercings = look at me, I’m here?

Piercing number 7 received a pretty wide range of reactions, from “Oh wow! Funky shit!!” from Best Friend (and fellow piercing-pissa) to, “Aiyo geniye!! Why do you do this to yourself??!” to, just a look at my ears and a massive roll of eyes from most others.

I got number 7 when exam stress reached its highest point and I felt like I abso-positiv-olutely had to get it done. All 7 are on the ears, this perera not having the nerve, the finances or the moral support to get it elsewhere (elsewhere being nose and stomach). The Best Friend vehemently opposes the nose, and the stomach requires more money than I can currently spare and more work on my stomach than I’m willing to do. So they will have to wait for later.

Why do I do this to myself? Because I like it. I think piercings are “funky shit!!” (though I’m not a fan of the eyebrow, tongue or chin piercing, or the more “adventurous” places) It’s not something I “do to myself” like I would, say, slit my wrists. It’s something I do like I would buy clothes or shoes. Only, this is more permanent and comes with a bit of pain. I wanted to get a second piercing since I was about 7-8 when I saw a family friend wear 2 pairs of earrings. 2 piercings became 4, then 6 and now it’s 7. I think that’s enough for the ears, don’t you? Lol.

The “*cringe* I of course can’t bear such pain” line is one I get from almost everyone. Well, I’m no lover of pain either. I have a pretty low threshold of pain actually. Can’t stand injections, and blood tests are a nightmare because not only do I get a pointy metal thing jabbed into me, I also get sickeningly red liquid sucked out of me. uuurgh..Shudder. But the sensation of getting a piercing (I’m talking about ears here. Not qualified to talk about other places. Yet) is different. It hurts at the moment it’s done. Of course it hurts. For crying out loud, you’re getting a hole punched into your ears. To say that it doesn’t would be bull crap. But after a while, it stops hurting. With proper after care it’ll be fine in a few days (or weeks). Nothing to fuss about, really.

Best Friend pierced her own ears once. I tried but only got as far as marking the spots on the ear lobes. As much as I like piercings, I can’t get myself to push a needle through my own ears. Or anyone else’s. That is taking it too far for me. I trust the guy at La Passion down Havelock Road to do the needful. 350 bucks is all it takes for both ears. He takes about 10 minutes and uses the gun, so it’s over before you realize. And so far, I haven’t had a problem with infections any piercings I got from there either.

Pundits and people in general who know more about psychology and needy behaviour have said that piercing and tattoos and all sorts of body art are a cry for attention. (Actually, I think I first heard that on CSI when Grissom said something to that effect.) As far as I’m aware, I’m not crying for attention. But hey, what do I know, I’m just a lowly piercing-pissa who likes getting holes punched into my self =)

ps - is it "piercing" or "piercings" in the plural, does anyone know? i never figured that out..