You say tomato

by jon guac

So happy robots... let's talk about behind-the-scenes, real-life piercing stuff. A piercing shop is a business. Wherever you go you to get pierced you should feel comfortable and we try our hardest to provide that. We don't compete and we don't bad mouth other shops -- but not all shops are like this. Think for yourself. We always stress not to believe everything you hear, be it internet or friends or even other piercers.

If you know me you know that I love food analogies... in this case, think of a body piercer as a chef and a piercing is a meal. Not all chefs cook the same, and a good chef will recognize this. Whereas one chef may use basil another might use garlic. The important thing is that the meal tastes good. Piercers are the same. A piercer's training is what they live by, and a good piercer will be open minded enough to accept that there are other methods to realize the same result. Different is not bad. If we see a piercing that could technically be better, instead of criticizing it we confirm that you are personally satisfied with it. If it's not dangerous and it makes you happy, why would we want to take that away from you? A good example is the many different ways you can bend a nostril screw. The right way is the style that's comfortable and doesn't hang down looking like a booger. There are no standard bends for a body part as unique as individual's nose, like I always say, noses are like snow flakes; no two are the same.

I worked with a guy a long time ago who called me into a piercing room to back him up on a piercing he considered bad. It looked fine. The critic was adamant that the girl remove it and pay us to redo it. I could not support his opinion, because that's all it was -- an opinion. I have seen the best piercers screw up and apprentices achieve perfection. Take pride in your piercings but accept that the human body is not perfect, and if your piercing looks good to you that's all that's important. Be careful Robots -- if someone is micromanaging your look, it's usually for their own gain. We fix things for people, but we don't dis the piercer or the shop. Just be aware of people's intentions when they offer unwanted advice, we all have rent to pay. A good piercing is one that makes it's bearer happy. So be well little Robots, until next time!