Only One

[William Burgess]

When I did my apprenticship in '91-'93, we were the only shop in a city of 100,000. Even though at first I went about it the wrong way, scratching at home, it was still much more difficult. I remember having to spend most of my paycheck from my my summer job slowly collecting all the necessary equipment. Even then, there was no such thing as pre-made needles, so I was lucky to have someone show me how to make them. Nowadays, $100 gets you a kit with all you need to inflict some permanent damage.

You really had to want to do this as a way of life back then. Now it seems so many want to do it as a hobby or just try a few. I had this girl that works at the local gas station tell me "My boyfriend got a kit, he want to try and do one on me". It was obvious he had no intent of taking it seriously, it was just something to mess around with on his spare time. I had to bite my tongue not to snap out on her.