I decided to nix my nose ring last Friday. Well, technically I had a very small opal stud in it. I’ve had it for ten years and since none of the guys I’ve dated have gifted me with a diamond or emerald one, I’ve decided to c'est la vie. My piercing was so discreet that not one person has even noticed its disappearance.

My piercing has a long history. I told my mom before I got it done that I was altering myself in some way. She figured I was doing something to my hair.

Mom didn’t freak out when she saw it, though she did say, “When you’re older and want to take it out, a little plastic surgery will cover the hole.”

My mother is not one of those plastic surgery happy women either. She had already told me I could have a tattoo before I was 18, but I think she was calling my bluff. One of my friends had gotten a lavender single stem rose on her back. I wanted the same thing.

I had my nose pierced at Gauntlet in West Hollywood, the king of piercing. It only stung for a second. A few years later, the stud fell out two separate times when I was asleep. I had to get it repierced once at Gauntlet and once at a place in Colorado where I got my second hole in my ears. I liked how my Jappy friend wore diamond studs and sapphires as her everyday earrings. I decided I would do the same thing.

Unfortunately, I had a huge needle going through my nose and ear at the same time. I’m not one to over dramatize, but I was feeling faint. One of the problems was that I wanted to try replacing my stud with a hoop in my nose.

I wasn’t one of those people who looked good with an actual ring. Additionally, the piercer was having problems getting the ring undone. That was my only semi-traumatic piercing experience. I briefly flashed back to the time an evil nurse had tricked me into watching her draw my blood after I admitted I never watched it before. On the same visit, she tried to scare me by revealing that a man with AIDS was in the other room.

I’ve been through a lot with my piercing. I’ve had a few people request I take it out for jobs (I never did). I’ve had people who’ve seen me a million times ask me if I had just gotten it pierced. I’ve had guys tell me it’s sexy.

The most cliché commentary was, “Did that hurt?” The second hole in my ear hurt a lot more. “

How do you blow your nose?” The same way you do.

“Do you have any other piercings or tattoo’s,” No.

P.S.I didn’t get my piercing as some rebellious act. I had thought about getting it for three years before I did it. I viewed it like a tattoo. I didn’t want it to be something I did and got tired of it after a year.

P.P.S. RIP lovely opal