I've heard the one about husbands and wives arguing about pierced ears before. When my mother was a little girl "only gypsies and hookers got their ears pierced!" she was told.
As a young married woman, her new husband (who was of very recent European heritage) said he didn't care about gypsies, but he wasn't buying her anymore "good" earrings as she would always lose one of them. So, some months later, having her wisdom teeth pulled, my mother had her ears pierced by the oral surgeon while she was, in her own words, "numb to the gills."
About sixteen years later, my own oral surgeon would look at my multiple ear piercings and remarks "well, guess you don't need those done while you're out."
It would seem that a brisk business in ear piercing happens while folks are anesthetized, both locally and generally, at the oral surgeons....
- Rae