Daviot Kelly - Peta-Gaye Clachar/Staff Photographer

We all have our habits and ways of living, but every now and then we feel like doing something a little different.

That bug caught me recently, and I decided I wanted to try something new. A couple of the things, like getting a tattoo or bungee jumping, were too risqué.

Couldn't bring myself to do that kind of stuff, so I thought about getting my left ear pierced; partially because I think I would look decent in a knob, and partially because I just wanted to see what the reaction would be from those who think they'd had me all figured out.

The test

But I had misgivings. There was the whole skin irritation thing and whether any relatives would have heart attacks. So I decided to do a test run. I took a silver sparkle (like they put on cellphones) and stuck it to my left earlobe (looked like the real thing fi real) to see the reactions.

"Wait, a when yu do dat?" asked one incredulous friend. "Yu let down the side man!" Joker he is, but he was serious this time. He is adamant that, "man mus' not do dem tings deh!" Other gents had similar quotes, some less tame though.

The women, however, were far more receptive. One young miss was surprised that I might have been considering it, but didn't think that it made me any less of a man.

"I think it would look cute actually," she imparted, after realising that it wasn't the real deal. That sentiment was shared by most of the young women who saw it, except for one young miss.

"That's not you," she said simply. "Leave that to di cruffs, yu expect it from dem." While I was happy to know how highly I was thought of, I never considered the term 'cruff' to apply to men who wore earrings. She further pointed out that since a lot of my work involved dealing with corporate Jamaica, it wouldn't fit the image.

I saw her point, but I was still a little troubled that that was how I would be viewed.

My decision

In the end though, it's all about how comfortable I am with myself, and I don't know if the earring thing is for me. Or maybe it's because I got almost as many negative comments as I got positive. It's possible I would have done the real thing if the consensus was that I should. I'm still not totally decided.

My advice to you is, go with your own gut on all decisions. In the end, you're the one living with the outcome, so your opinion is the one that really matters. Lata.

About the knob, should I or shouldn't I? Tell me at daviot.kelly@gleanerjm.com