This appears to be more emotionally charged than I had origionally assumed. I thought it was a straight forward question. All this discussion about induviduals etc while interstesting doesn’t answer the question. In or Out. Pierced or not? I didn’t say anything about individuality or about not giving a f@#@ what people think. This also has nothing to do with money I make a good living and it would not affect my career in the least. It is more of an appearance question. At 30 years old is it childish to continue to wear several piercings. What assumptions would be made because of said acoutriments. Would I be limiting myself to in who dates me etc. So again in or out? I appreciate the opinions all of them they are very interesting however please close with your answers. I am left to assume what you would answer with some of these responses.
This may be out of the realm of the question you asked, but you’ll relate to more people without them. There are a lot of things that fall into the same category: long hair, facial hair, piercings, baggy pants (not the BB fashion type, but the “plumber” type that you could fit two people into). You will be able to relate to more people without them. Now a lot of people might say “Not me!” Hey, I didn’t say EVERYBODY, I said MORE people. It’s the same looking for a relationship as in business.
Knuckle: Here is some advice; get rid of the freak tags and keep them out. After about 10 weeks of seeing yourself au natural put them back in, you will do a double take in the mirror and race to remove them. Any one who says “I don’t give a fuck about what people think” as some sort of a statement of self affermation is a intellectual gerbil. Any body who writes into the fucking internet to blab about how without concern for others opinions they are is full of shit.
I think facial piercings are gross. Sorry, that’s just the way I feel I have never seen one that looks good NEVER. If you have one, great, if you like it, that’s fine too. It’s your face and you didn’t ask me. That said, I think you should have left your piercings where they were. Piercing is not a fad, it is a custom that goes back 1000’s of years. It is just becoming more accepted in western culture. Nipple ring - if you’re wearing a shirt, no one sees it. Earrings - small hoops are just not a big deal even if you have 10. Tongue ring - well, that depends on you. If you are one of those people who is always chewing on it or clicking it on their teeth or talk in a manner that shows it off all the time then you probably should have taken it out. All this ‘following the crowd stuff is bull’ look at yourself and look at your friends. 99.999% of people have similar styles, tastes, and opinions as their friends. That’s not saying that you and your friends agree on everything, but really, if you were at odds over everything you wouldn’t get along. People trying to be ‘different’ look just like all the other people trying to be ‘different’ So I’d say, put the damn things back in if you were more comfortable with them. If you decided that they were no longer ‘who you are’ then leave them out. I have a tatoo, it is where no one will see it unless I’m in a bathing suit. I love it, and I would miss it if it was gone…do you miss your piercings? if not then you’ve changed since you got them, no big deal.
…damn computer crashed… anyway, what i was trying to get at is, if you were comfortable with your piercings would you want to be with someone who thought you weren’t good enough for her because you had them? and plenty of ‘nice’ girls think tasteful piercings are sexy.
Okay, my random, stream-of-consciousness 2 cents. Knuckle, I vote for out. At almost 40, I’ve actually gone the other way (from totally conservative to a bit looser), but in my case this means I now wear an ethnic choker that I picked up in the Maldives during the summer months. Big deal, right? No tattoos, no piercings. I’ve thought about getting a tattoo, something like a small Japanese idiogram, but it would be small, it would be someplace where most people wouldn’t see it, and I haven’t done it yet. I guess the whole thing for me comes down to: who are you trying to be with all the accoutrements? I don’t care what anyone says, some white guy from Kansas wearing a tribal tattoo is trying to be (or at least look like) something he’s not. In my own case, the Japanese thing relates to my lifestyle, but I certainly wouldn’t consider anything else - it “wouldn’t be me”. I think it would make me seem insecure, like I wasn’t happy with what I am. THIS is the reason that most corporate/ business types frown on (male) body decoration: if you’re older and you have it, frankly, it makes you seem kind of flakey, like you’re still flailing around in high school/ college “searching for your you-ness” or something. Which, as AR said above, is the reason most older people DON’T have it. They don’t need it. About the go-with-the-crowd “individuality” opinions above: the prototypical example has to be the hippies in the 60’s. They were all about being “themselves” and not wearing the “corporate uniform” of a suit and tie, yada yada. So what did they do? They came up with something just as rigidly uniform - patched blue jeans and tie-dyed t-shirts. Oh yeah, they were individual! HA! Finally, the only piercing that I personally have ever found even remotely attractive is a tongue stud worn by a waitress at a local bar here - and that only because it makes me wonder what it would feel like if she gave me head.
I was trying to let you come to your own conclusion, but you asked ,so here is my take on this: As you get older, you learn that the “in your face” look/attitude can impede your progress in learning the perspective of others, which you need to be aware of in order to grow as a human being. Do not label yourself. Be cool, but don’t mark out an obvious territory. Appear open, so people won’t know where you stand, and you will be suprised at the condfidences that are shared with you. So get rid of all the public stuff, ( I assume a guy with a tongue ring must need assistance with his technique) No bumper stickers.Be a mystery, make people wonder- and keep the nipple ring to remind yourself, and to let your closest friends know that you will always have that wild hair up your ass. 
For no great motivational reasons that I am aware of, I only pierced one of my ears for the first time this year, at the age of 46! Yeah, I’m old (to most of you) but if/when you meet me you probably won’t think so. I’m very comfortable with what is a fairly large silver hoop (especially considering the semi-corporate publishing environment I work in during the day), but I’m also actively “off” the corporate ladder: personal trainer in the mornings, freelance writer by night, and active weight trainer and now triathlete the rest of the time. Maybe it’s because our kids grew up and I have the time now. But I truly don’t care what others think, in most cases, unless I know and respect you. A long time ago I had lots of long hair; now my hair is real short, 'cause most of it’s gone (gee, can we say DHT conversion?). Happily, at this age I’m bigger, leaner, more muscular, and in better shape than at any time in my life, and still kicking ass in the gym and on the bike. Oh yeah, I just shaved my legs, too, just to see what they look like. And to top it all off, my wife encouraged the earring (but doesn’t like the shaved legs). My daughter had a tongue piercing for a year but took it out 'cause she decided it was stupid; so far we’re a tattoo-free family, but who knows?
Funny thing, John, is when I stopped shaving my legs a few years ago, my wife didn’t like it (I had been shaving them for years before we even met, bike racing and all). She’ll get used to it, and as long as you don’t let the stubble grow, she’ll find it wierd when/if you stop.