7-11 Helping the Youth

Gorging on the spicy hot dogs, foot long hot dogs, cheese dogs, hot dog salad (yes, this exists) or the bit size hot dog snacks, a throw back to the Al Borland Lil' Smokies time, is one way 7-11 can aid you in changing your body. (The predominance of hot dogs has laid to rest my query into how an Asian man could win the Nathan's Hot Dog eating championship on July 4th for so many years when the product being consumed seemed so American.) The other way this convenience store can help is one of the more ingenious things I have seen my students do.

Upon returning from Christmas break I noticed a number of male students with gauge piercing in their ears. These are the piercings that use plugs to stretch the size of the piercing and are worn by people who are generally labeled as freaks and punks by soccer moms across America who hypocritically take no issue with stuffing silicone bags under their tits or voluntarily breaking their noses or partaking in insane crash diets all of which are far more extreme forms of body modification yet are some how deemed completely acceptable.

I soon realized that 7-11 was, unknowingly, providing the kids with the materials needed for amateur foray into the piercing scene. The small skewers used to eat meatballs and cut up hot dogs was the first size used to stretch after the initial piercing. The skewer is the first step, followed by a gradual increase using the 4 to 5 sizes of straws the 7-11 in Thailand stock until one of the following desired sizes is met. The standard drinking straw given out with every beverage you purchase, literally every beverage, including beer. Then the slightly larger Slurpee straw, the one with the the little spoon at the end for getting the last bits off the bottom, followed larger straws for sucking down the drinks that come with some type of jelly floating in them, these are immensely popular. I think the whole drink and eat, two for one feel has something to do with it.

Originally I was told to enforce the dress code and make students remove their earrings. But after a few days I gave up mostly because I was pretty impressed by the MacGyver thriftiness of the whole thing. The encountered a problem and solved it with a creative solution that fit all of their needs, inexpensive, highly accessible and replaceable, perfect for when their pissed off parents inevitably catch them and toss it out.