This summer, my wife asked what I thought about piercings. It's always good to assume every question from your wife is a trap of some kind, but I basically said I was not a fan of intentional holes on the body. Then, she asked more specifically what I thought of the Medusa. Again, I thought it was a trap. I said some things should never be looked in the eye.

What she really meant is that there is a piercing called the Medusa, and she wanted to get one. I assumed it was an eye piercing, but I was wrong. It is actually a piercing of the middle of your upper lip, between the nose and actual lip. Who knew?

My wife asked what I thought about her getting one, and I scoffed at it. 'It would draw attention to your nose,' 'It'll leave a hole in the middle of your face,' and of course, 'I'm not paying for that.'

I felt as much like a father as a husband to my twenty-two year old wife.

The topic disappeared for a while but resurfaced when she announced she was saving up for the Medusa. She does receive a cut from the money I make from driving the cab (at least $20 a day), and as a rule, I don't tell her what to do with that money. After telling her my initial objections, I didn't stop her quest to save seventy bucks for her operation.

I'm one of those guys who thinks a woman has the right to choose when it comes to their bodies, and if you think means just babies, you're way off. Women have so much more going on inside their bodies than men, I would be a fool to start spouting off rhetoric on what to do with it. It's your body. Do what you will.

The clincher for Maria deciding to get the Medusa actually came from me. I asked if I could audition for a production of "Sherlock Holmes" at a local theatre. She said I could audition if she could get her Medusa. I responded by saying she could get the piercing either way, but she liked that she was giving up something for getting something. Whatever rationale works.

Long story short, I was cast in the play as The King of Bohemia (the German guy in a British play), and my wife scheduled to have the middle of her upper lip lanced, I mean, pierced.

Strangely enough, she scheduled it on a night when I had rehearsal, and we got our daughter's uncle to babysit. Last Tuesday, the deed was done. When I got home, my wife had a little gem shining below her nose and above her lip. It looked cute.

Most people have been receptive to the Medusa including our two-year old daughter, but it did make her mother cry. Her little baby has grown up and mutilated herself. I know how she feels. Maria's face is no longer pristine, and my wife will never have the face I married seven months ago. Of course at the age of 36, I'm not getting any younger or prettier, so I shouldn't complain about much. Especially a little piercing on my wife's face.

So there it is. My wife bucked all the criticism, bided her time, saved up the money, and had the middle of her face poked so she could have a shiny gem flashing at people. In short, she earned it. Just like a big girl should.

Chris Jungle has scars in lieu of tattoos or piercings.