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eyes

Bye bye piercings...

mood: thoughtful thoughtful
So last night, I finally got around to taking out my last piercings (eyebrow, three earrings). Even though I still like the idea and they were 100% healed (and therefore pretty much no problem), I found that I just wasn't all that into them anymore. It didn't help that everywhere I looked I saw way too many people with way too many poorly done piercings and that I increasingly found myself not wanting to be lumped into any category that included them. Add in the fact that from a professional standpoint they do tend to detract and more importantly distract from what I'm trying to do and I kept finding myself wanting to take them out.

If I'm pitching something to a prospective client or debating some technical issue with another engineer or inspector, I don't need to be seen as the young/crazy guy. I need to be seen as a professional and even though I will never be a suit & tie, white-collar professional, I can definitely clean myself up a bit and find a way to look good/cool (IMO) without looking strange. Don't get me wrong, it takes a lot for me to personally think "gosh that person looks strange" but I deal with way too many conservative/traditional folks (e.g bankers, business people etc...) and I think the piercings were ultimately starting to get in the way.

It's unfortunate, but just like the long hair, the piercings would be fine if I was just a worker in the field, but I'm the guy in charge and I need to look more like what people expect to see. Maybe if I was a bit less physically intimidating (i.e. scary looking) I could get away with things like that, but as it is, with my height and my build, I'm pretty much stuck looking like I could break most people in two (especially if I'm scowling/thinking) so I have to consciously pull myself back from the "leather-clad tattooed & pierced biker" look and go for the "clean-cut competent professional that we feel comfortable hiring" look.

So, yeah. I'm pretty much cool with the change, but I still feel weird that I finally did it (I'd been thinking about it for a couple of months already). Fortunately I can't really tell the difference and so far I haven't missed them at all (so that's good). I think I've missed my beard or my goatee more whenever I've just shaved them.

Posted on Jan. 27th, 2006 at 06:37 pm | | Leave a comment | 3 comments |

Comments


parkero

I hear you. I always liked my hair red... I'm so pale I think it looks really good. But, being a "responsible adult" I have to keep my appearence some what preppy and respectable. I was the girl wearing a ring on every finger, and I'm still much happier in my doc martens and torn jeans rather than my dockers and starched shirts. I think I make up for it by being a complete teenager on the weekends. Of course, todays teens don't like anything like when we were teens, so it isn't if i'm trying desperately to recapture my youth- I just look like a trailer park dweller.

Somedays being an adult sucks... but over all, i think i prefer to be me now than me then.
Posted on Jan. 28th, 2006 03:26 pm (UTC) | | Thread | Reply

dragonvpm

Lol,

Yeah, I guess that has something to do with it too. The segment of the population our age who still does the crazy things from our youth is invariably a segment that you aren't all that crazy to be identified with.

Kind of like when you see a lot of older guys with greying ponytails and you almost automatically think a) this guy is lost in the 60s, or b) he's a creepy guy who hits on teenage girls.

It's hard to properly pull of certain looks as you get older and have more responsability etc... Damn it, yet another thing to dislike about getting older (but even with a house payment, car payment, etc... I still refuse to "grow up"!)
Posted on Jan. 31st, 2006 05:57 pm (UTC) | | Parent | Thread | Reply
(Deleted comment)

dragonvpm

He, I can actually buy that as being a good look for you. A far cry from your boozing tire swinging hause days, but still a good look.

Hell, I like the way I look now (at work and in general I just softened the evil/mean biker look). It's nice being able to choose to dress certain ways because it gets me what I want, I guess it's just weird when the choices start to move towards more mainstream looks. Although I think in both our cases we're inclined to head towards mainstream for practical reasons and then veer off when we see something a little anachronistic and different from what everyone else is doing.
Posted on Jan. 31st, 2006 06:01 pm (UTC) | | Parent | Thread | Reply