I get style. I understand trends. My goodness, I got my ear pierced in 1985 when it was just becoming okay for guys to do that. I’m out on the bleeding edge of style, man! What I don’t particularly get are some tattoos and tongue piercings.
I understand tattoos a bit more than I do piercing. There was a time, about 10 years or so ago, that, for about 7 minutes, I actually wanted a tattoo myself. I thought it would be cool to have a tattoo of Bucky Katt from the Get Fuzzy comic strip. I decided against it after a phone call to my wife when she responded by saying something along the lines of, “I’ll give you a tattoo of my fist in your neck!” Decision made.
Now, I don’t have an issue with someone who gets a tattoo on their leg or on their arm for people to see. Some of them look pretty cool, actually. I will say this, though, and no offense toward older folks with tattoos, but when I started seeing 75 year old men with NEW tattoos rather than the old bluish-green ones from 40 or 50 years ago that older folks are supposed to have, well, that sort of made them a little less cool. At least it did in my mind. Which brings up another concern. What happens when that really cool dream-catcher tat you got on your arm when you were 20 turns into something that looks like an odd colored hot-dog wiener with a feather sticking out of the top of it because of the inevitable skin sag that occurs with age? Or that Chinese symbol you got on the back of your neck? “How’d you get that big bruise on the back of your neck, Maw-maw?” “No, sweetie, that’s the Chinese symbol for Geritol.”
As I said, though, tattoos are usually okay with me. What I really don’t understand is why someone, anyone at all, would want a hole in their tongue. And how bad does that hurt? I have bitten my tongue while eating and almost passed out from the pain. I have a little bump on my tongue right now that is driving me crazy. I can’t imagine having someone take a sharp piece of metal and just jab it right through my tongue and then have a piece of jewelry in there clacking around. And why, oh, why, do those of you who have tongue rings always think I want to see it? So many of you are always sticking your tongue in and out and clickety-clacking that little ball around. Seems to me that food and other undesirable things could easily get stuck in there and cause all sorts of problems. Infection, inflammation, stinky breath! Who knows what else?!? Does it ever grow up the way ear piercings do or do you just have a hole in your tongue for the rest of your life? Belly button piercings I’m okay with. Even noses to some degree though it is a bit gross to think about. But a tongue…NO WAY!
Maybe I’m just not cool anymore. But to say that would be to assume that I once was cool. That’s not very likely so I guess I’m just an uptight old dude who just doesn’t get it. Maybe someone can fill me in on the allure of the tongue thing.
The View From We2 
I agree….I am not into the whole tongue piercing thing. I like tattoos, as long as they are somewhat tasteful and they make the person happy. But I have no clue how a hole in the tongue could make anyone happy. Weird, if you ask me…but to each their own.
You are right…to each, their own. I simply don’t get it myself. Seems like an awful lot of pain and maybe a bit of a nuisance afterward, but hey, who am I?
Back in the late 90’s when I was super cool, I had the brilliant plan of getting my tongue pierced. My parents would hate it and it would certainly make me more of the cool person I already was (this is an attempt at sarcasm eh-hem). So the day before Thanksgiving I go to Capital City Tattoo on the Troy Hwy (i shudder to think of what could have happened now that I am older) and paid $75.00 for the overly inked “gentleman” to stick a hollow metal pin in my tongue and voila, tongue pierced. It hurt insaneley and my tongue was swollen for quite a few days. Needless to say, I did not enjoy turkey dinner with the family. I kept that tongue ring for about a year, up until my employer said get it out of your mouth, or you are out of a job. And although it was the coolest thing I had ever done, being unemployed was not on my list of things to acheive in life, so sadly I had to take it out. The first couple of weeks, I would put it in at night take it out during the day, but over time this got a little tedious and I forgot one night. That was all it took, tongue closed, no hole. I still have a scar on the bottom of my tongue where the hole used to be. As for the tongue ring clacking and flipping in and out of mouth, it just happens. You have a big piece of metal in your mouth, it is hard not to fip it around occasionally. I have also had my belly button pierced twice, which is another story and was with a chic that got her nose pierced in the middle and they did it crooked-WHOA that was intense and bloody!
Quite a story Jennifer! Interesting to hear the details of how that worked out! Funny. And painful to me, too! I pierced my own ear the first time and that hurt like the dickens. I can’t even begin to imagine the tongue. I’m not even sure how that would work with a nose piercing in the middle. Did she keep it?
Oh, and if you look, the girl in the picture has hers a little off-center!
They actually were like “AW man, sorry about that, we (curse word) your nose up. We will fix it for you at no charge” I mean really, ya think? So she had it pierced again in that same visit. I have heard it is the most painful piercing, I can however think of a few more that would possibly be more painful!!
LOL! I can think of several, also! None of which I want to be a part of! I wonder who the first person was who decided to let someone stick a pin through their tongue? I’m sure alcohol wasn’t involved at all. Did your friend then just have an empty, bleeding hole through her nose, next to her piercing?
Um, there are some other reasons people get their tongue pierced…it seems to enhance certain activites.Gotta stay anonymous on this one! sorry!
I have heard that as well. I’m going to leave this up even though it’s anonymous! Good call on remaining anonymous!
My friend did have a scabby hole on one side of her nose, since they used the hole on the other side as a starting point. It was pretty NASTY! Alcohol is never involved when people make the brilliant decision to mutilate their body!! LOL! I wish I could say alcohol was involved in my case, but all the piercings and the lone tat were done when I was too young to drink and too dumb to realize I was an idiot!
Scabby anything isn’t good! You are too funny!