By Mike Gordon
Advertiser Staff Writer

The other day I was talking to a few co-workers about body mutilation, mostly tattoos and body piercing.

We all had stories about interesting tattoos and piercings in places you wouldn't expect them.

Opinions varied about whether any of this was a good idea, although at one point, everyone frowned, crossed their legs and said: "Ewwwww."

"Not there!"

"Oh yes," a friend said. "I saw it."

I caught myself fingering the place where my diamond earring should have been — I had forgotten to put it in that day — and decided all was not as it seemed.

Where had my freak flag gone?

It used to be so easy. Long hair did the trick. Alas, I've had no hair for many (many) years.

These days, the things men do to their bodies as a way to stand out have hit new highs. But at the same time, so much of that behavior seems diluted by volume.

Tattoos are more mainstream than ever, as are multiple earrings for both sexes.

Look around. Everyone has one. Teenage boys with gold hoops. Mothers with seahorse tattoos on their backsides.

These are different times, aren't they?

If my father had come home with an earring or a tattoo, we children would have lost the power of speech. Our mother probably would have fainted.

I always liked the idea of an indelible statement. The nerve to act upon it took time, though.

When I worked high-rise construction,

I badly wanted to get a tattoo. I thought it would give me a leathered persona, and I once wandered Hotel Street with $50 in my pocket, searching for the perfect design.

Never found it.

Years later, my stab at standing out took a different turn when I got an earring. But by 1992, nobody thought it was anything but commonplace. Even in Orange County, Calif.

Only once, during a job interview a few years ago in a conservative town in Washington state, was I asked if I removed it for "really big interviews."

"Only the really, really big ones," I said.

My daughters' reaction to this topic defies logic.

They have never questioned my earring. The popular culture of their generation is hardly conservative when it comes to appearance.

But I was surprised by their reaction when Mrs. G. told them she wanted a second hole in one ear.

They were definitely not speechless.

When Mrs. G. announced that a tattoo would "be fun," the little darlings threw another hand-wringing fit of protest.

"I don't want to look at a saggy blue-colored tattoo when you guys get older," No. 1 Daughter explained the other day. "And if you get one in a place I can't see, the tattoo artist will have to look at you."

Even I had to laugh at that.

My freak flag may not fly as proudly as it once did, but the image was vivid.

Ewwwww.

Reach Mike Gordon at mgordon@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8012.