How To Survive A Nose Ring At 40

Coming back from an extended European trip, I was more nervous the reception my new nose ring would receive than the anticipation of returning to the life I had left behind at home.

Prior to this trip I would never have a considered such an act. It was for young people, it was for the artistic types, whereas I was a sensible person. Besides, how would I begin looking for a job in the corporate world with this little rock glimmering in the groove of my nose?

I arrived in Paris full of excitement at the launching of my great adventure. Everything was in upheaval in my life. For a variety of reasons, I'd lost my home, my job. The responsible thing to do would have been to buckle down and get a new job, find a place to live and certainly buy a car because surviving in Los Angeles without one was like running a marathon with a broken ankle. Instead, I ran away to another continent, wanting to put as much distance as possible between me and "reality."

Paris was my launching point from which to travel to other countries, and I would ultimately return three more times to the "City of Lights" over the course of two months. On my third day in the city I noticed a young woman with a very discreet nose ring, a flat, silver adornment that was not immediately apparent. For the first time it struck me as a very feminine feature. But the young woman herself did not strike me as feminine; she was overweight, badly dressed with a mop of unruly curly hair without a modicum of style.