The piercing craze was about to take off. I worked in a record store where my co-workers thought that we should be setting the precedent for this upcoming trend. The piercing experience for me, however, was not about trend. Nor was it an act of rebelliousness or defiance to mainstream society. Adorning my body with a piece of stainless steel jutting out from my flesh was a statement about independence, inner strength and audaciousness. For years to come it would symbolize these characteristics of my personality and would also look the absolute raddest too!

I had always known which body part would make the most prominent, yet subtle statement. I would pierce my left nipple. You may wonder, why the left nipple and not the right? Why just one nipple and not both? Well as many of you know, no two breasts are alike. My right breast stood strong and shapely and would fill a 32B bra quite nicely. My left breast, however, needed a bit more oomph. In my mind, it just didn't measure up to the right one, and the dissimilarity would have me playing favorites. But now I could adorn my less favorite breast and make it cooler than ever.

So during our next lunch break my co-workers and I embarked on our piercing adventure. There were three of us, but I was the only one getting my nipple pierced. My friend Rob wanted to watch the procedure and I happily obliged, feeling even more confident about having a witness. The piercing took about 10 minutes in all. First they clamped my nipple with a set of tongs. Then they held a cork on one side to catch the long cylindrical rod coming through the skin from the other side. And then...it was over. I would be lying if I said it didn't hurt like hell. It was the strangest feeling I have ever encountered, but boy did I feel relieved (and lightheaded) afterwards.

I was all bandaged up, so when I got back to work it seemed a bit obvious that this lunch didn't involve the usual stop at "Ben's Kosher Deli." There I stood, elated with my swollen breast, next to my two newly tongue-pierced buds. However, I was the talk of the record store; not them. Not only had I achieved my personal goal of obtaining the coolest breast, but I already had people commenting on my act of bravery. Then suddenly I realized, I had set my own trend.