Pierced Ears: My Rite of Passage

It seems so minute and insignificant to me now, but back when it happened it was like a rite of passage that I desperately needed to partake in. What is this ever "sacred" ritual I speak of? It was nothing more than getting my ears pierced, and it all happened when I was in fifth grade.

I realize that some girls undertook, and undertake in, this rite long before I had, but it took some convincing before my father even considered letting me get my ears pierced. I had heard horror stories of the procedure and was quite nervous to go about the whole thing. Accompanied by my parents and younger sibling, we walked into a small store at the mall where my mother told a sales associate I wanted to get my ears pierced.

I was seated in a tall chair where I was prepped for the piercing. The employee took a magic marker and placed one dot on both of my ears. She then held a mirror up to me and asked me if they looked all right and even. She then loaded the ear piercing gun with a stud, placed it to my ear lobe, told me to take a breath, and that was it. I don't remember feeling anything more than a slight pinch. The employee then proceeded to do the same to my other ear.

Getting my ears pierced was important to me, and a landmark in my adolescent life.

Today, I have only my ears pieced, once, and nothing else. Most dress codes that I have experienced allow for pierced ears, although some restrict what types of earrings can be worn (such as no dangling earrings or gauged ears). It appears to me that most employers are nearly desensitized to singly pierced ears, seeing as they are fairly common amongst most women today.