I don't get tattoos

[vito]

I really don't understand the appeal of tattoos, but they obviously are becoming more and more acceptable and popular. When I was younger, tattoos were mostly the choice of young men in the military or biker gangs, usually with the influence of alcohol at the time of inking, and often a matter of great regret later on. But today I see men and women of all ages with anything from a tiny tatoo on the shoulder to full "sleeves" to multiple tattoos all over the body. While they look interesting (sometimes), it is the permanent nature of a tattoo that would keep me from ever getting one. I've had a "favorite" shirt, or pair of gloves, or watch or some other item that I really like, but never have had that "favorite" stay as my favorite for decades on end, or certainly not for my entire life. I could see admiring a tattoo as something meaningful at one time, but would it still be so ten, twenty or more years later? Talking with my dermatologist recently, she said she gets so many requests for tattoo removals that she is thinking about hiring another doctor for her practice just to do this sort of work since she has no time to branch out into this area. That tells me that a lot of folks that thought they would love their "ink" for life have had a change of heart and now are willing to pay big bucks and endure scarring and other issues just to get rid of something they thought they would love forever.

Maybe its just me, but tattoos are not at all in my future, and I'm pleased that so far, none of my grown kids have even one, and none of my grandkids either.

 

[gunman42782]

When I was a 17 year old kid, I begged my Dad to let me get a Marine Corp tattoo. Thank God he didn't let me, as I never joined! LOL. I would look real cute with a USMC tattoo and never been in. A few years back I thought seriously about getting the Ruger eagle emblem on my arm, but I didn't. I just got better things to spend my money on, like guns and reloading components. I ain't against anybody getting them that wants them though. To each his own.

 

[SamV]

Traveling a bit, I have noticed that some areas seem to have less tattoos than others. Where I live there are probably thousands of acres of tattooed skin. And now that the fad has been around for quite a while, I am seeing a lot of geezers with tattoos. At least when every other fashion trend changes, you don't really see them anymore. People can do what they want. Personally, if I never saw another tattoo in my life, I would be a happy man. Just burned out on seeing sooooo much ink.

 

[daveg.inkc]

And body piercing. I went into a coffee shop in the local mall. Smelled great with all various roasted beans. Young man waiting on me could not talk plain. I was imagining school mates making fun of him. Until I saw metal ball in his tongue! Why?? Stick a sharp piece of metal thru your mouth and speak!!

 

[Bob Wright]

I am a Christian, and as such I am always aware of my testimony. Tattoos and piercing are against Biblical principles, so I avoid those.

(Lev. 19:28) Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.)

This is Old Testament Law to be sure, but the principle there is to point toward Christ, not make yourself preeminent.

Bob Wright

 

[mohavesam]

I've never met a woman who was "more attractive" because of a tattoo. Quite the contrary.

As to Leviticus - well, defiance of God's word (original sin) is still a calculated, deliberate sin. A man cannot change that.
I don't believe tattoo removal does not change the intention and original act.

 

[pi2]

I was going to comment that I (and mine) avoid them for religious reasons but hesitated because of uncertainty regarding forum rules on such; however, Bob Wright covered it verbatim for me.

Thanks BW

 

[wwb]

I'd take things a step further - anyone receiving public assistance would have to prove that they acquired the tattoo at a time when they were not on welfare. Otherwise, the cost of the tattoo would be withheld from their EBT, AFDC, or whatever.

I've seen too many human murals using an EBT card.

 

[bogus bill]

Being older, for right or wrong I still automatically classify people with neck and certain face tattoos as jailbirds. Usually Illegal gang members etc. There may be some few small "tasteful" tattoos that guys got with their branch of service or girlfriends name, but I believe that's when all this really started during world war two.
The way this has been building up I wonder when girls will start putting platters in their lips and guys put bones through their nose? With all the extreme tattoos that we see where their faces are covered with tatts, I think you can bet they don't have a job unless its in a tattoo parlor or in a freak show. That means they are on welfare and you certainly are seeing where our tax dollars are going. Go with it a little farther and you know they aren't passing out christian tracts, are likely pushers, druggies and thieves. No business person would hire them to be seen in their business. Ya gotta be coool man!

 

[Don Lovel]

name on a neck with a line drawn through it and a new name tattooed below it, I have actually seen two names crossed out and a 3rd under them before
nothing like dealing with bad choices you make

 

[Pierow]

...........The way this has been building up I wonder when girls will start putting platters in their lips and guys put bones through their nose?..........

Sort of is already happening. Folks have their tongues spliced in two just so they look like snakes, have their teeth ground and shaped to look like monster teeth, have horns implanted in their foreheads to look like demons etc.

And as to your other points I agree. I always thought people who have all this stuff are members of a band, work at tattoo parlors or some other job where they don't have to deal with the public. Seems little by little these things are more accepted.

Not knocking whatever anyone wants to do to their bodies but for me it freaks me out a bit. I use to do security at bars as a side-line when I was younger and one night on Halloween a couple came in, in their late seventies at least, completely naked though it was hard to tell as they were tattooed from head to toe genitalia included. What made me cringe though was they both had large rings pierced through their genitals as well. The piercing wasn't what made me cringe so bad as it was, and kiddies you can stop reading now if you like, the thought of them walking through the bar and something catching one of their rings and......... Yeah, it made me cringe.

This is the lounge right?

Pierow

 

[gasbag]

When I first started my career I worked in a hospital
that worked with Merchant Marines.
You wanted tattoos? You saw tattoos.
We made a game of guessing what they were suppose to be
originally when the patient was younger.
Saw a lot of really sad looking eagles and wilted roses.

 

[bnewberry]

I am a Christian, and as such I am always aware of my testimony. Tattoos and piercing are against Biblical principles, so I avoid those.

(Lev. 19:28) Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.)

This is Old Testament Law to be sure, but the principle there is to point toward Christ, not make yourself preeminent.

Bob Wright

I am no biblical expert, and I could be wrong, but my understanding of the rule against marks on the skin was a stricture against the custom of the time by other religions to mark the skin with names or signs of their various gods.

 

[daveg.inkc]

I’m thinking of a “Hillary!” Tatoo,,, anyone else want one?? Maybe a “Hillary, go away!”

 

[bogus bill]

As a guard I sometimes had to handle these types as Pierow did. I recall answering a call where a female walked in the womans bathroom and one of those types was in there spaced out. It turned out he had been fired maybe a month prior and somehow got back in the factory and like the hunchback of Notre Dame had been evidently living in the high dark areas of the hangers eating garbage. He was one of the filthiest persons I ever had to handle. Dirty beyond description. He was out of his mind and even our in house fire department didn't want to handle him so I rode with him in the ambulance to the hospital.
A few weeks later in the local newspaper there was a article of a serial rapist police were looking for. The article had a composite drawing of the suspect and the drawing was a perfect image of him. Of course I dropped a dime and told the sheriffs dept the name of who they were looking for. It was a son of one of the biggest auto dealership owner in the city. The thing is most of the worst I had experiences with were of the type.

 

[AJGUNNER]

 

[Kevin]

I don’t have any tattoos. But I’ve told my daughter if she gets old enough and wants one, she has to call me and I’d come with her to get one. I’ve secretly always wanted a tattoo, just never had the courage.

I think some of them are pretty unique art. But then I like graffiti. That is true art. Not some gussied up painting in a museum. Same with a tattoo. Each is different.

 

[blackhawknj]

They seem to be much in fashion at present, I was told advances in technology have made them much easier and less painful to apply. I am puzzled by those in rather..intimate (?) places. A friend has a Christian themed on her arm. She is a member of an Episcopal church and has a musical duty position at a Catholic church, she is there so often they let her receive Communion.

 

[bogus bill]

I would like to have a dollar for every gang banger, convict and jailbird I have seen with a cross or the Virgin Mary tattoo.

 

[Skoopski]

I've got a tattoo on my arm that I got when I was 21. Still happy with it. But I took a long time to decide what I wanted. I don't understand some of them out there that are based on fads or what I think is stupid. But, to each his own, I guess. I'm all for the ones that mean something to someone. Remembering a loved one or the like. And if that's a sin I've got to worry about then we're gonna have some bigger fish to fry when he looks at the rest of my life. But, I never thought people should have to follow old testament laws. But again, to each his own.

 

[Bob Wright]

I've got a tattoo on my arm that I got when I was 21. Still happy with it. But I took a long time to decide what I wanted. I don't understand some of them out there that are based on fads or what I think is stupid. But, to each his own, I guess. I'm all for the ones that mean something to someone. Remembering a loved one or the like. And if that's a sin I've got to worry about then we're gonna have some bigger fish to fry when he looks at the rest of my life. But, I never thought people should have to follow old testament laws. But again, to each his own.

True, the Old Testament Laws were for justification, which were surpassed by Calvary. But Biblical principles still hold true.

Bob Wright

 

[gasbag]

I am going to get a full body tattoo, only 6 inches taller.

 

[contender]

I view things a little differently.

First,, each person has the right to do with their own body as they please. If a tattoo is your deal,,, then I can not force my opinion upon you. I also expect the same respect from others. Don't like my guns,,, leave them alone. It's MY choice.

Now,, my personal thoughts about getting a tattoo on my body,,,, "God made me this way",, and I figure he knows how I should look to be perfect in His eyes. I accept how he has made me & don't figure on trying to change it. Just like I'm going bald,, a bit overweight, wrinkles & lines,, etc. So, to sum it up; "God's perfect,, and I don't want to mess with him!"

 

[Muley Gil]

I am starting to wonder if there are any women under the age of 70 that do not have a visible tattoo. Too many of the tats that I see just look trashy, at least to MY eyes. Oh, and don't forget the earrings that create LARGE holes in the ear lobes.

It seems that some folks are just SO poor, however, they can afford tattoos, cigarettes and alcohol.

 

[bogus bill]

Ya gotta be cooool. All other professional welfare cases have em. Nothing like one fool trying to impress another.

 

[Jeepnik]

When folks ask why I never got any tattoos while in the service I have a simple reply.

"I never got that drunk".

 

[toysoldier]

My first exposure to tattoos was my father. When he was a teen-aged soldier in the Philippines, he had "Kansas" tattooed in script on one shoulder, and "Philippines" in script on the other. By the time I was in high school, they were unreadable blurs.
Forty-five years of hospital work, mostly in the OR, has given me a great deal more exposure to the "art". I've seen it all, from the crudest ink self-tattoo to polychrome creations by true artists. But when I look at a masterfully worked peacock, I think about how it will look in 20 years---just a big blur, like a bad birthmark. My other big objection is the random nature of American tattoos. In native cultures, tattoos are done in an overall, unified scheme. Japanese full-body tattoos are also like that. Here, the tats are applied one at a time; something here, something else there. No unified theme, more like graffiti.
No one mentions the health risks. I've seen a guy with a fresh tattoo on an arm swollen twice its normal size from cellulitis, a diffuse infection. HIV, hepatitis C, and other infections can be passed. I went to school for 9 months to learn to be a scrub tech. I don't know how much time these tattooists spend learning sterile technique, but I guarantee it isn't enough. And recently, a question has been raised about the safety of the ink, much of which now comes from China.
As for body piercings---the most common ones on gals are in the navel, which is exactly where we put an incision for most laparoscopic surgeries. Say bye-bye to your piercing.

 

[redhawker]

I just can't fathom why anyone, especially otherwise good-looking young women, want to mark themselves up permanently with tattoos. Also, I don't even like trained medical personal sticking needles in my body let alone a half-trained substance abuser that has a modicum of artistic talent sticking a needle in me hundreds or even thousands of times just to draw a picture on some part of my body.

BTW - I'm sure you've all seen the Chinese, Japanize or Korean symbols some people get tattooed on various parts of their bodies. I saw somewhere (or read somewhere, I don't remember which) that a lot of times even though the recipient thinks there is some deep zen type meaning to them in actuality they are cuss words or menu items off of a restaurant menu and other such things.

 

[ned]

I have often wished the tattoo fad was as popular when I was dating. I spent a lot of money on dinners try to screen out the crazy ones. Some of the tattoos I see now would have saved the cost of dinner.

 

[Tallbald]

I always considered that if I became a felon on the lam, America's Most Wanted would be able to tell viewers I had a something something tattoo and it would make too easy to find. Thankfully, at 6 feet 5 inches, 290 pounds and with a shaved head I easily blend into the crowd and want to stay that way. I could always remove my double ear rings in my left ear to be really disguised. Don.