Is it appropriate to give a stranger advice?

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Wednesday March 5th, 2008 @ 12:41 AM

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Some time last year while I was sitting at the doctor the young guy next to me had a rather large blowout on both of his stretched lobes, which were well past 00. He was discussing with his girlfriend and his friend who was sitting in the chair across the aisle that he hoped the doctor knew what had happened to his stretch lobes while touching the blowout.

Would it have been rude, nosy or just plain impolite of me to tell him he had a blowout or to refer him to BME so he knew what had happened?

There aren’t any piercers nearby, the nearest one is about an hour away so most people in my area go straight to their doctor when they have a piercing problem rather than going to their piercer.

What do you think? Should I have said something to him or minded my own business?

This type of conversation can often be a touchy situation, as some people might take it the wrong way,etc. As always in talking with others, its about how you verbalize your statements, so not to appear hostile,etc.

One way of slipping into the conversation is to simply say: “I’m sorry but I couldn’t help but over hear what you were talking about, I have some piercings and I’m curious as to what’s going on with yours, if you don’t mind me asking?” Usually by being very polite and showing the person you’re genuinely curious/concerned they are usually ok with talking about these things…

Then as you two are conversing about body modifications, the problems the person is experiencing,etc…You can then slip in BMEZine.com, and what you think the problem might,etc as well as suggest to not just consult with that doctor. Instead to consult with a couple and even take the time to visit a experienced/reputable shop to have them look at the problem.

So no I don’t think its rude or anything like that, so long as you’re not acting rude. By that I mean you’re not pulling gross faces, talking down to them, calling them stupid, screaming at them,etc. The problem is there so its not like this attitude will help, it puts people on the defensive. So if you open up and be kind and caring,etc I have found people are very willing to discuss these things, so long as you word what you’re saying properly.

Also never really got the whole: “the only piercer is about an hour away” excuse. As personally it used to take me 2-3 hours to travel from where I lived in Niagara Falls to visit one of the very few artists I trust to do serious work on my body. I used to purchase a greyhound ticket and like I said spend 2-3 hours depending on traffic to get there. Also at the time I was pretty much dirt broke and barely just paying rent, eating,etc. So if I was able to do that, I think its not really a valid excuse to say: “the only piercer is about an hour away.” But that’s just my personal view on that statement haha!

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