Last night, my sister-in-law and one of my nieces stopped by at the house to drop off some Japanese sweets they had bought at the mall earlier. I was in my room on my computer when the door bell rang and I rushed to the front door. My father also made his way to the door from the living room where he had been watching TV.
"Oh, Uncle, you got your nose pierced!?"
My niece said seeing the silver stud on the right side of my nose.
Oh, sh*t! I had completely forgotten to take it out after coming home from a drive earlier!
I had my nose pierced back in the US when I turned 21. These days, I've been wearing it on my days off when I am out of the house away from my parents.
My father is very old fashioned when it comes to how a grown man should look. He has even commented on my "t-shirts and shorts" look in the past, and I thought it'd be best if he did not see his son with a piece of jewelry in his nose.
Now my niece had noticed and innocently commented on it. My father fell silent. So did my sister-in-law who knew my father very well and what his reaction would be.
I just said to my niece something like, "Huh? Oh, THIS? I've always had it. You've never seen it before? Ha! How 'bout that?"
My father just retreated to the living room without saying a word, without even thanking them for the sweets.
He has not mentioned anything ever since. I saw him this morning before his daily walk but when I said, "Are you going for a walk?", all I got back was a grunt.
I think he intends to ignore me for a while and not say anything about it.... but I KNOW he will bring it up during our next argument!
Maybe it is silly to hold onto something from the past. Yes, I do know I'm not a college aged kid anymore, but this nose stud is a reminder of the time when I was feeling that I was finally coming into my own in another country/language and I was trying to establish my own identity in it.
It has some fond memories attached to it. How painful it was when a woman named Victoria just shoved a piece of cork up my nostril and put a thick needle through my nose in the basement of a seedy book store in the south end of Boston.... How I almost ripped my nose off on more than one accasion when it got caught while taking my shirt off.... The infection.... It reminds me of that fun, carefree young buck that I was.
So, Dad, you will have to let this one go. I promise I will not let the neighbors see it. Ever.
"Oh, Uncle, you got your nose pierced!?"
My niece said seeing the silver stud on the right side of my nose.
Oh, sh*t! I had completely forgotten to take it out after coming home from a drive earlier!
I had my nose pierced back in the US when I turned 21. These days, I've been wearing it on my days off when I am out of the house away from my parents.
My father is very old fashioned when it comes to how a grown man should look. He has even commented on my "t-shirts and shorts" look in the past, and I thought it'd be best if he did not see his son with a piece of jewelry in his nose.
Now my niece had noticed and innocently commented on it. My father fell silent. So did my sister-in-law who knew my father very well and what his reaction would be.
I just said to my niece something like, "Huh? Oh, THIS? I've always had it. You've never seen it before? Ha! How 'bout that?"
My father just retreated to the living room without saying a word, without even thanking them for the sweets.
He has not mentioned anything ever since. I saw him this morning before his daily walk but when I said, "Are you going for a walk?", all I got back was a grunt.
I think he intends to ignore me for a while and not say anything about it.... but I KNOW he will bring it up during our next argument!
Maybe it is silly to hold onto something from the past. Yes, I do know I'm not a college aged kid anymore, but this nose stud is a reminder of the time when I was feeling that I was finally coming into my own in another country/language and I was trying to establish my own identity in it.
It has some fond memories attached to it. How painful it was when a woman named Victoria just shoved a piece of cork up my nostril and put a thick needle through my nose in the basement of a seedy book store in the south end of Boston.... How I almost ripped my nose off on more than one accasion when it got caught while taking my shirt off.... The infection.... It reminds me of that fun, carefree young buck that I was.
So, Dad, you will have to let this one go. I promise I will not let the neighbors see it. Ever.
