I probably have my father to thank for the fact that I never got a tattoo. His was certainly the first one I ever saw. He had the figure of a woman in a sailor suit tattooed on his upper arm. When he flexed the muscle in his arm, her breasts would bulge. Pretty clever, actually. I used to giggle about it. Of course, I was about five years old.
That was about the time I realized that he was the only adult person in my world with a picture on his arm. So we had the following conversation:
Me: Why do you have a picture on your arm?
Him: It’s called a tattoo.
Me: Did it hurt? [I had recently been introduced to the concept of "pain", having been stung between the toes by a honeybee while walking barefoot through a patch of clover.]
Him: Well yes, it did, actually.
Me: Then why did you do it? [Out of the mouths of babes, right?]
Then, as now, I was pretty confused about why you would voluntarily hurt yourself. His explanation went sort of like this: Well, see, I was in the Navy, and it’s just a thing you do when you’re in the Navy…and, Oh, never mind. Kind of hard to explain rebellion and rites of passage into adulthood to a five year old child.
Of course I did much later get my ears pierced, which my friend Nina did using ice cubes and a needle and thread. That pretty much cured me of any desires I may have had for piercings anywhere else.
In my most rebellious period, the two things I would not do were tattoos and piercings.
Now we get to the plumber part. A plumber came to my house yesterday and every inch of his arms, visible below his T-shirt, was tattooed with a quite intricate geometric pattern. Also he had the name “Jeremy” tattooed on his neck. Since he introduced himself to me as “Jason”, I decided to leave the Jeremy issue alone.
However, I said, as he was working, I notice you have a lot of tattoos. How’s that for an icebreaker? And the reason I mention it, I said, is that I always wonder why people do it. I said, I never could, because I was afraid I would change my mind. And he said:
I started this process when I was 19, and it seemed like a good idea at the time. Now I am 30 and it isn’t so cute any more. (Omg…you are 30! Prepare to die!) He volunteered that he used to also have piercings…bars through both ears and his nose, and a stud in his tongue. But his current boss told him when he was hired that he had to lose the piercings, because he would scare the customers. Actually, he said, my tattoos scare the customers too. He said he had been asked to leave jobs before because of it. I thought that was sad. I told him I didn’t think he was scary.
I enjoyed talking to this guy, but I am no more enlightened about why people get tattoos or piercings than I was before I started. My idea of body decoration is getting a tan or coloring my hair. Wearing sparkly powder. You know, reversible stuff. If anybody can explain it to me, I’m all ears. So to speak. Except for the holes in them.
But is the plumbing OK?
Pierced your ears with a needle and thread – oh, my! When I had mine pierced, technology had advanced to a spring-loaded device using pointy-shafted studs.
Yeah, a tattoo on your neck is never a good idea if you ever plan on sitting at a desk during the course of your employment.
I have a friend who has a giant green shamrock with chains on it all across his back. I was like “Did you get that in case you forgot you were Irish and needed a reminder?”
He now works at the mayor’s office but has to swim with his shirt on at company family outings.
FYI, I had to take my other blog down bc my classmates found it and I didn’t want to get kicked out of school. I found this one which you might like;)
http://meternaljuror.wordpress.com/2009/10/06/complaint-1-granola-bars-domestic-violence-food-overdoses-l1-midterms/
I am with you! I pass out donating blood, so there is no way I could ever understand the allure of a tattoo, or having anything other than my earlobes pierced. I just couldn’t do it!!!
Fakesister, we had those springloaded thingies you could have done at the mall too, but they cost money. We were into DIY self-improvement. After the first ear…well, what can I say. It’s amazing I haven’t gone through life with only one pierced ear.
Like so many other things, folks do something because it is a “fad.” Later, they regret it.
Oh, I was just tired of losing earrings!
I have a tattoo. My best friend in high school stabbed me in the forearm with a pencil, and the mark has been there for 36 years, I guess I’ll never be able to get a job at the FBI.
Jeff
Tattoos can be an expression of personality or aesthetics, that’s a valid reason to get them IMO.
A more interesting question might be why people are so prejudiced against tattoos.
I hadn’t thought about this post for a while, but it’s interesting that someone viewed it, which made me think. In the interim, I discovered that my cousin is a tattooer. Also, I forgot about the part where I did get tattoos.
When I got radiation in 2006, the first thing they did was tattoo the skin around my breast…just tiny little dots, which somehow helped them focus the machine in the right place. Wait! I said. Is this permanent? (Technician rolls his eyes.) Yes, he said, they are. The alternative to NOT getting them is worse. Oh, I said. Good point.