Self-mutilation

Got my ears pierced today. I'm 32, and the oh-so-cerebral Piercing Specialist at Claire's Boutique (swarmed with 12-year-olds with $5 to spend on crappy accessories) was more than happy to point this out. Three times. At first, in junior high and high school, I was more than happy to be different and buck the system. Screw you and your hole-in-each-ear clique! But hell yeah did I buy and wear multiple Swatch watches and Bugle Boy jeans, so I'm not sure what point I was making... Then more recently I attributed my virgin lobes to a sort-of solidarity with my maternal grandmother (who totally rocked!). But then the only reason she wore those god-awful clip-ons was because she was terrified of the pain of piercing. Which I'm not. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized nobody really cared whether I was making a point or not. It's not like grown or even partially grown women immediately check out the piercing status of other women. We all look at shoes, of course, and sometimes other clearly visible accessories. Like purses. Yeah mainly just purses and shoes. But never, unless I surreptitiously point out the fact that my earlobes are bare, do people notice my statement. And even then the reaction is usually, "Oh." So that's it. Now I have sparkly lilac studs (one of 30 sparkly choices the Piercing Specialist gave me) and my 3-year-old thinks I'm the bomb. Which is the best reaction I could ask for, really. There's nothing quite as affirming as having kids think you're cool.