Rite of passage

My niece finally had her ears pierced today. As she is growing up fast, this was one of the to-dos for little girls, I guess. We brought her to a jewellery shop to have it done. First she chose the ear rings (a pair of silver ear studs with crystal). Then the lady positioned the hole with a pen, and let us see if it was balanced on both sides. Then she applied the sterilising lotion onto the ears. Next she took out the "gun" and before we knew it, she just "shoot". Niece was not frightened, maybe just a little. I think the anticipation before that was worse than the actual. In a split second, it was done. And she barely felt any pain at all. Soon she was as happy as a lark, she is looking forward to wearing ear studs with heart shapes, shiny crystals, flowers etc... all the girly stuff. To me, it was some sort like a rite of passage, another stage of her little life, another stage of growing up.