So, I try not to give out too much personal information here, but for the sake of the story it's important to note that I am in my early 20s, recently graduated from college and found a job, and just got married. My husband and I live near my family and visit them frequently. ANYWAY...

This past Saturday my husband/Master and I had just gotten back from our honeymoon, and we wanted to go out shopping with my brother and his fiancee, who are good friends of ours. My brother still lives with Mom and Dad, so we stopped by their house to pick him up. When I came in, my dad said "are you wearing a collar?" I said, "um, yeah." I was wearing a pretty standard punk-ish outfit for me -- jeans, concert T, black eye makeup, and my collar.

When we got back from shopping, D. and I stopped by for a while to chat with my family. When my mom saw me, she said "What are you wearing on your neck?" I said "It's a choker." A few minutes later, my dad literally came up behind me when I was sitting on the couch, took my collar off my neck, and put it in my purse. Cue about an hour of arguing with both parents about whether it was "inconsiderate" of me in the first place to wear something that I should have known would be "disturbing" to them. WTF? For the record, this is not like some crazy posture collar with five giant O-rings. It's a relatively simple, slender black leather band with a little chain hanging slightly below it. I checked with a non-lifestyle friend later to make sure it wasn't "disturbing" to other people, and he said, "what, your pretty little neck thing?"

Meanwhile, of course D was completely seething at the whole situation, and my brother, who has bought WAY gnarlier-looking collars for not one but two of his girlfriends, of course had to take the parents' side and say that I "must be being deliberately obtuse" for not understanding why people were upset by something that honestly hasn't been a shocking fashion statement since the Sex Pistols. Are they shocked by pink hair, too? What about safety pins? And on what planet is it ok to respond to someone wearing something you don't like by physically removing it from their body?