RFT's Best of St. Louis> Body Piercing> Claire's Accessories.

River Front Times just came out with the best of the best for 2009. Well, even when I bring it up with strangers behind the cash register, they too are drawn to the same ridiculousness that is St. Louis's Best Body Piercing: Claire's Accessories. Lame. Reading the article you can agree with the author that getting your ears pierced is a rite of passage, especially as a girl.

My own experience? My mom told me it was illegal in Georgia to get your ears pierced before you turned double digits (aka 10 years old). Though with most of my 4th grade class decked out in none-other-than plastic dangles from Claire's I knew that was just my mom's own law.

However my mom did have me convinced on something else. That they used a gun to pierce your ears. A double barrel rifle. She would describe in detail lining up clients against a door, the piercer would stand back and use their best aim. BAM BAM BAM and pray they landed the stud in your ear. Forget if it was against the law or not, the image of the rifle made my palms sweat. Did I about walk out the door when the lady at Merle Norman said, "Just one moment and I'll go get the earring gun," yes, yes I almost did.

Rite of passage, yes, but do I want to slap the face of the awesome dudes at Enigma that pierced my eyebrow and my nose and compare them to the Disney/Cute Punk Jewelry pusher thats crammed between American Eagle and Wilson's Leather? Nope, I don't.