Write about being insulted.

It was a few years ago but I still think about it from time to time. A bunch of us were gathered for a bachelorette party for one of my best friends. It was, without a doubt, a massive shitshow. In a good way! We were in the Cincinnati and Newport-area, bar crawling and having a grand ole time.

Halfway through the night, we ended up at Hofbrauhaus and you know what happens when a bachelorette party walks into a bar? The men start flocking to us like we were pieces of bread a stranger had thrown at a pond for the birds.

A group of guys brought us a tray of shots and wanted to dance with us. It was mostly wholesome, no creepiness that I could tell (or remember). A lot of guys were complimenting me for a creative decision I made with my ears.

Some background, I've had my ears gauged at 00 (10mm) for about 10-11 years now, they've been gauged for a total of 14 years. On the bachelorette party night, there were glow sticks made available to us. Everyone was putting them around their necks, heads, wrists, etc. I decided to put a pair in my ear holes!  People either A) thought it was cool or B) thought it was cute. Whatever, it was time to go out and have some fun. 

Back to the Hofbrauhaus story, these dudes brought shots, hung out with us, chatted us up. One guy looked at me and goes "ew." 

I raised my eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

He points to my ears. "That's kinda gross."

I stare at him for a second. "And you're kinda desperate? None of these girls are fucking you for buying us subpar Washington Apple shots."

He was drunk. He laughed it off and moved away to talk to someone else. I specifically remember a wave of anger washing over me. And it didn't help that I was on the verge of being super drunk. I remember turning to one of the other girls there and told her what happened. She was offended on my behalf. She also could see I was preparing myself for a fight so she, thankfully, grabbed me and walked me to the bathroom to walk it off. I eventually decided to let it go and the rest of the evening went fairly smoothly.

I still think about this incident every once in awhile. I'm not entirely sure why. I've had WAAAAAAY worse insults said to me in the past. I've been called a nigger, I've been called ugly, hairy, fake, annoying, shitty, slutty, blah blah blah. But this guy...I don't know. 

I made a decision, a choice, to gauge my ears. I've never regretted that choice. It's a body modification that ain't for everyone and honestly, it's not even the craziest body mod. I think eyebrow piercings are crazier than gauged ears but I digress. 

Anyway, that's a long-winded post about that one time a faceless white dude called me gross.