Being A Rainbow

This afternoon I decided that I would trek to 'The City' and get some hardcore shopping done. I brought along a good friend. Let's call her Curly because of her beautiful long locks of curls. So anyways, after 'Curly' and I found some great buys at a dollar store we decided to walk the mall. Being the dorks that we are we trooped around the mall like a bunch of pre-teen girls shopping alone for the first time (I am still not over the fact that I can drive, even after 6 months of having my license).

We both have a rebellious streak to us, so we decided that we should definitely pierce our ears. Now we are not just talking the lobe piercing that everyone gets when they are 8, no, We decided to get those fancy cartiledge piercings that add (or take away) 5 years to ones ear. So I pretty much was about to ask if my friend and I could get our ears pierced when a little girl and her mom walked in and just because she could, this mom practically yelled across the store, "MY LITTLE GIRL WANTS HER EARS PIERCED". Curly and I sighed and said, "So do we". Because the boistrous mother managed to 'ask first' Curly and I kindly said we would wait, and began to browse the shop shortly after hearing the mother proudly picking out the most costly pair of earrings available. I discovered many adorable things that I have decided I will go back for at a later date, including many shades of nailpolish, a zebra striped umberella and hot dog shaped earrings. After 20 minutes or more of browsing we peeked around an earring rack to see what was taking the little girl so long to get her ears pierced, since normally it should only take 10 minutes or so. What we saw was a little scrunched up face leaning against her mother. I will admit that her face was fairly white, but I could tell that she was desperately trying to shed a tear. The concerned mother chatted on her cellphone at 100 words a minute, probably considering calling an ambulance for her precious daughter. Curly and I were not the only onlookers though. As luck would have it, a nurse was in the shop and she tried to give helpful hints that the mother refused to accept. At this point in time I was getting fairly impatient, as I just wanted to get my ear punched and go. Finally, after checking the time on my cell phone 10 times, the little girl slooooowly got out the chair and sloooowly put her shoes back on and her mom practically dragged her out of the store. Curly and I were incredibly greatful that the woman and her blonde little baby left and were ready to show the piercing lady how to really deal with pain. We quickly filled out one of those forms that say that we are responsible to take care or ears and can not hold the store liable if our ear falls off, blah, blah, blah, etc, etc, etc. I proudly flashed my drivers license and jumped up into the piercing stool, pointed to the cheapest stud and flashed my pearly whites. Luckily I have gotten my ears pierced many times and knew how much pain to expect. When the lady pierced my ear I was able to proudly say, "Well that wasn't that bad!" As I stood up quickly, full color in my cheeks, smirking. Yes I know, I am 7 or 8 years older than the little crying girl, but I still felt so terribly satisfied that I managed to 'act my age' and 'suck it up'. With my ear on fire I walked out of the store, head held high.

Since I am a big thinker, I of course thought about this experience on the drive home. I put myself in the position of the little girl getting her ears pierced and visualized how differently the situation would have been handled if my mother saw me about to faint. My mother probably would have dragged me outside of the store to a nearby bench, because she would have been very conscious of the two teenagers waiting to pierce there ears like a couple of recalcitrants. I than put myself in the place of the mother and decided that I would probably have tried to avoid embarassment by telling fish stories of my daughters past health problems, which would probably have included faintsoftenitis.

But I what I realized is that this world is full of SO many different personalities and each person handles lifes problems differently, and I believe it is what makes life so interesting. If the color of my personality is purple, than that mother would be a solid orange, and her daughter a deep yellow. Each of us handled the situation differently. I handled it by wishing that the child would do just as I would and grow up. But if everyone acted exactly like me and if the whole world was purple, than the world would lack variation. No one would listen, everyone would want to talk and no one would have to make friends or get to know one another. The world would be a monotone mess, and what makes this world so beautiful is the color. I love living amidst a rainbow of people, oranges and greens and reds and blues. I love how no shade is the same and each and every one is beautiful. So next time I see a loud mother, a weeping child or an angry business man I just have to remember that they have a color, and behind each color is a peron that makes this world a little bit less of a boring place.