More fun piercing children
Or not piercing, actually. We had a couple come in with their one-year-old for a piercing and things started off okay. The little girl wasn't fussy or wiggly and even pointed to the earrings she wanted (presumably, anyway). She smiled at us and didn't seem to have a problem with strange people.
Then Dot and I gloved up.
Oh, wow. Day and night, seriously. According to the parents, she'd had a bad experience with doctors and so seeing us with rubber gloves freaked her right out. Crying, squirming, flailing, the works. I got near to one of her ears once and smeared marker all over her lobe. Dot tried and couldn't get any marks to match up on both sides. Our manager (I think I've previously referred to her as Georgia) came by and finally got even dots, though they bled to the point of sitting on the edge of being useless and conference had to be held with the parents on how off in what direction we would need to pierce.
Meanwhile, Dot and I were sharing looks and carefully talking around the last time we had needed to go off mark on an uncooperative child. From the corner of my eye, I could see a lady just on the far side of jewelry craning her neck to see what the commotion was. It was quite clear that she had the same thought the rest of us were having-- that we really probably shouldn't go through with the piercing-- so I avoided eye contact and generally tried to pretend she wasn't there.
To their credit, the parents by this time were clearly as reluctant as we were, but they'd been advised to get the piercing while the child was young and we'd already gone through all the trouble getting the ears marked.
The little girl was finally calmed and settled in her father's lap, but freaked out again when Dot and I approached with the piercing guns. We both managed to get into position a couple times, but never at once or for more than a moment, in spite of the father holding the little girl securely and the mother trying to sooth her. My nerves were jumping all over the place and I had to back off, Dot quickly following my lead; the girl calmed almost immediately.
At this point, the father looked ready to call the whole thing off and the mother sounded quite shaky as she admitted that she felt bad and didn't think she wanted to go through with it anymore. Things could have ended quite amiably, really; Dot, Georgia and I all had our mouths open to agree that going ahead seemed unwise and the father was nodding his head as he cuddled the little girl.
That was when the lady from earlier walked up, snapping cellphone pictures of the sniffling little girl; she called the parents out on child abuse and us out on enabling child abuse and declared she was taking the story and the pictures to the news. There was much shouting and cursing and name-calling, which started the little girl crying again; our attempts to curb the argument were unsuccessful and it only ended when the lady stalked away.
Once she was gone, the mother turned on Dot-- at some point during the fighting, Dot had tried to appease the lady by saying that she agreed that going through with the piercing was a bad idea; in the confusion, all the mother had heard was that Dot agreed with the lady. Dot tried to explain her position, and that she wasn't accusing the mother of abuse, but the mother threw up her hands at the whole situation and even demanded to have the paperwork with her information back (whether on principle or because she feared we would try to take some kind of action, I have no idea).
So, yeah. Not the most fun I've ever had.
IN MORE POSITIVE NEWS, I am now the happy owner of a teddy bear hamster named Theo. He is soft and fluffy, and when he curls up he looks like a tribble ♥ He's not really used to being handled yet, but I've been playing with him every day (I've had him now just shy of a week) and I put a sock in his tank to accustom him to my scent. I'm thinking of getting him a hamster ball, but I'm afraid of how the cats might react.
Sad addendum to this: I got him to replace my rats, who have passed away ;__;
Oh, and I just realized I haven't mention our new snake yet! Her name is Isis and we got her from a friend of my mom's because his fiancée isn't comfortable having a seven-foot ball python in the house with their new baby.
I'm thinking of getting some fish, but I'm not quite sure yet what kind I want. Or where I should put them.
For my writer-type buddies, a question: Let's say that I am writing a fic; might as well say it, because I am. I've been thinking of the story as gen, but actually looking at it... I'm not sure I can label it that way without being disingenuous.
My fic is very much character-centric, though it does involve pairings-- both romantic and sexual. This wouldn't really throw my perception of gen except that... well, the sex is actually quite important. Like, quite. The main character's thought processes before/during/after the acts are a good deal of the story. There is also a good bit of romance that, while on the side, impacts the character in several ways.
What say you, friends?
Then Dot and I gloved up.
Oh, wow. Day and night, seriously. According to the parents, she'd had a bad experience with doctors and so seeing us with rubber gloves freaked her right out. Crying, squirming, flailing, the works. I got near to one of her ears once and smeared marker all over her lobe. Dot tried and couldn't get any marks to match up on both sides. Our manager (I think I've previously referred to her as Georgia) came by and finally got even dots, though they bled to the point of sitting on the edge of being useless and conference had to be held with the parents on how off in what direction we would need to pierce.
Meanwhile, Dot and I were sharing looks and carefully talking around the last time we had needed to go off mark on an uncooperative child. From the corner of my eye, I could see a lady just on the far side of jewelry craning her neck to see what the commotion was. It was quite clear that she had the same thought the rest of us were having-- that we really probably shouldn't go through with the piercing-- so I avoided eye contact and generally tried to pretend she wasn't there.
To their credit, the parents by this time were clearly as reluctant as we were, but they'd been advised to get the piercing while the child was young and we'd already gone through all the trouble getting the ears marked.
The little girl was finally calmed and settled in her father's lap, but freaked out again when Dot and I approached with the piercing guns. We both managed to get into position a couple times, but never at once or for more than a moment, in spite of the father holding the little girl securely and the mother trying to sooth her. My nerves were jumping all over the place and I had to back off, Dot quickly following my lead; the girl calmed almost immediately.
At this point, the father looked ready to call the whole thing off and the mother sounded quite shaky as she admitted that she felt bad and didn't think she wanted to go through with it anymore. Things could have ended quite amiably, really; Dot, Georgia and I all had our mouths open to agree that going ahead seemed unwise and the father was nodding his head as he cuddled the little girl.
That was when the lady from earlier walked up, snapping cellphone pictures of the sniffling little girl; she called the parents out on child abuse and us out on enabling child abuse and declared she was taking the story and the pictures to the news. There was much shouting and cursing and name-calling, which started the little girl crying again; our attempts to curb the argument were unsuccessful and it only ended when the lady stalked away.
Once she was gone, the mother turned on Dot-- at some point during the fighting, Dot had tried to appease the lady by saying that she agreed that going through with the piercing was a bad idea; in the confusion, all the mother had heard was that Dot agreed with the lady. Dot tried to explain her position, and that she wasn't accusing the mother of abuse, but the mother threw up her hands at the whole situation and even demanded to have the paperwork with her information back (whether on principle or because she feared we would try to take some kind of action, I have no idea).
So, yeah. Not the most fun I've ever had.
IN MORE POSITIVE NEWS, I am now the happy owner of a teddy bear hamster named Theo. He is soft and fluffy, and when he curls up he looks like a tribble ♥ He's not really used to being handled yet, but I've been playing with him every day (I've had him now just shy of a week) and I put a sock in his tank to accustom him to my scent. I'm thinking of getting him a hamster ball, but I'm afraid of how the cats might react.
Sad addendum to this: I got him to replace my rats, who have passed away ;__;
Oh, and I just realized I haven't mention our new snake yet! Her name is Isis and we got her from a friend of my mom's because his fiancée isn't comfortable having a seven-foot ball python in the house with their new baby.
I'm thinking of getting some fish, but I'm not quite sure yet what kind I want. Or where I should put them.
For my writer-type buddies, a question: Let's say that I am writing a fic; might as well say it, because I am. I've been thinking of the story as gen, but actually looking at it... I'm not sure I can label it that way without being disingenuous.
My fic is very much character-centric, though it does involve pairings-- both romantic and sexual. This wouldn't really throw my perception of gen except that... well, the sex is actually quite important. Like, quite. The main character's thought processes before/during/after the acts are a good deal of the story. There is also a good bit of romance that, while on the side, impacts the character in several ways.
What say you, friends?