"We The Modified"

This was written by a friend of mine, who just happens to be a body piercer, as well, and is who I've gotten any and all of my piercings (past and present) from. He wrote this back in December of '07. However, I've read it several times, enjoyed it, and thought I'd share it here.

We the Modifed
Written by Fathead



we the modified have spent much of our time hiding in your ideas of us. you spend your days thinking because a person has a nose ring he is some sort of sexual deviant that would beat the hell out of your child , rape your grandmother and worship satan. as a modified myself i can stand and say that none of that is true. i would like to state to you the things that i have done even as a "freak" that still makes me completely normal.

i get mocked and pointed at because of my hair color.

frequently asked "does that hurt? can i touch it? are you pierced anywhere else?"

people stare like i am 2 seconds from stealing their money

im made fun of because im different

people try to bury my dreams and my aspirations just because i have larger holes in my ears telling me i will never get a better job because of the way that i look

families try to not accept me when they find out that i have a few tattoos or shiny objects in my face



i am generally stereotyped as all "modified" people are... i would like to stand before you today and speak my mind on the things that i have done as a "modified" person.

i have held hands with an elderly woman as she crossed the street

i have helped take care of a handicapped girl in a wheelchair everyday for 6 months

i have held the door for people with disabilities i.e. broken arms, on crutches, wheelchairs....

i have offered to help carry things to a persons car on the other side of the mall because i saw them struggling to carry their stuff

i have helped take care of my own cenile, herniated, alsheimer afflicted grandfather during the times that my mother was supposed to help him

ive given my last 5$ to the salvation army bell ringers knowing ill figure out a way to get my next meal, because im more resourceful than the less fortunate.

i have loved

i have had things ripped form the palm of my hands and never once did i curse anyone

i have taken care of the sick

i watch over my friends sick mother and do any housework she needs while he fights in iraq.

i have many many many friends of all different walks of life that accept me for who i am and the way that i live my life, realizing after getting to know me i am not different, strange, or violent.

i have laughed at many of the same movies that you have.

i have some of the same dreams that you have i.e. marriage someday and a family to follow, my own house, my own achievements

i cry at the same times that you would

i have been hurt by others as everyone else has.

i have needed to be a friend and a rock and a counselor for different people, all the while setting aside my own problems to help someone else.

all of these things i have done and many many more. i may look strange or mean, but i am and most anyone else like me are some of the nicest most giving people you will ever meet. why? because we know what it is like to be persecuted, to be laughed at, to be discouraged, and looked over because of the way that you look. we dont want to become those who mock us and more or less belittle themselves by pigeonholing us.

here are somethings i want you to think about.

the mechanic that works on your car, has a tattoo, you probably dont see it, and probably never will. but he goes home at night just like you and I to his family and stays up all night wondering how he was going to pay his bills and put food in his kids mouth. but you will ever so easily disregard him because hes dirty and has ink in his body.

the guy in the back of your favorite restaurant has a piercing in his face, he prepares the wonderful meals that you salivate over and tell your friends about. yet if you saw him with that hole in his face you would not want him cooking your food. why? because apparently that piercing in his face makes the food taste different somehow.

a professor at a local college is covered head to toe in tattoos. literally. you see him walking the streets and you would be quick to judge that he is a drug addict and a satan worshipper and that hes mean to his family and that he is an outcast. in all honesty you are wrong, he is a man that teaches our children to learn , to give them the knowledge that they need to carry on and prosper in their lives. he helps shape the future. but you wouldnt want him to sit at your dinner table.

we all have different reasons of why we get tattoos and piercings. some people get them because they like the way that they look, some get them because their friends think that they are cool. those of us who ACTUALLY have reasons on why we do these things to our bodies do them for other reasons such as commemorating the passing of a loved one, a milestone in our life, to show the love of another human being, sacrifices we have made, trials and tribulations we've made it through.a few personal meanings of the tattoos that i have are:

- the death of comedy - noone laughs anymore, everyone is always so serious and apparently you cant have fun or laugh at things during certain times in your life because depression has now overrun our population.

- my love for my family - the story is told through two zippos and my nickname, and a music note, an 8 ball, and 3 playing cards. the two flames from the zippos unite to create one large flame (me) which runs underneath my nickname. the music note and left zippo symbolizes my mother, she gave me the gift of music and that will forever stick inside my mind and carry with me till i pass. the 8 ball and the right zippo symbolize my father, my father taught me that life is a game and you have to do what you can to win, also taught me a love of billiards. to which this day i can say that im pretty decent at. something i really truly enjoy from the both of them. forever etched into my arm.

- faith- i have a rainbird tattooed on my right leg. it symbolizes a belief in something that you cannot see. something you cannot feel. it stands for my belief in god and the after life and all of my religious beliefs.

now when certain people like to look at me and just think that i have those tattoos cuz i wanna look scary and or cool. they are just making a common misconception and making a huge mistake in not taking the time to get to know me. i wanted to write this bulletin because earlier i opened a door for an elderly gentleman and held it for him when i went into speedway. when i went to open the door he gave me sort of a nasty look because i had to hurry to get in front of him to get to the door before him so i could hold it. but the moment that i opened the door and held it for him, he looked amazed and shocked that a guy that looks like me would ever hold a door for an elderly person. in closing all i want to say is open your mind, you dont have to become one of us, just drop the barriers that seperate us. accept us as you would accept your own family, we are hardworking, loving, caring, funny, entertaining, giving, honest, peaceful. we are all the things that you are.



i chose the lyric that i have typed in a sense of irony for the simple fact that if you look at ted bundy, one of the most notorious and sick and twisted serial killers, he is a clean cut man , with attractive looks and nice clothes no tattoos and no piercings, yet what ted bundy did is what most people think would come from your average "freak". kinda like poetic justice huh?

"on the surface i seem normal, farther down though, im so ugly, something you wont ever see"