Stories From My Past: Body Piercing

When my sister was Jr. High aged, she decided she wanted piercings. Mom and Dad let her get both ears pierced, but they drew the line there. I don't remember all of the things she asked for, but the one-word reply was always the same.

"Can I get multiple piercings in my ears?" "No."
"Can I pierce my tongue?" "No."
"Can I pierce my nose?" "No."

One day, I was in my bedroom. I don't remember what I was doing, but I remember hearing my name being whisper-shouted repeatedly. Each time, it was just a little bit louder. My sister was trying to get my attention, and didn't want Mom and Dad to hear.

I wandered into her room and saw a most amusing sight. My sister had stapled her hand to her desk.

She was trying to do a "hand piercing" - putting an earring in the stretchy bit of skin between her thumb and forefinger.

Now, I've seen some funny things in my time. But I gotta tell ya... the sight of my little sister stapled to a desk... well, it's just a special memory. :)

Between the two of us, we got her pried up from the desk. I was sworn to secrecy. For reasons I don't think I'll ever fully understand, I agreed. As it turned out, I didn't have to worry about the speed with which the secret would come out.

My sister got a visit from our yicky friend tetanus. She had to show her badly swollen hand to Mom and explain what she'd done. The piercing was removed, shots were given, and she came through it just fine.

Closer to adulthood, she did eventually get multiple piercings in her ears, but as far as I know it ended there. 'Sis, if you do have any other piercings, I don't want to know about them. :)