2007-09-15
tattoos: like 'em or leave 'em?
|I signed up for a Mystery Post which means you put your name
down and wait for a moderator to come up with a topic. Then
everyone who signed up writes about that topic on the same day.
You can read everyone else's post at Blogexplosion then vote for your favorite. Of course I want you to vote for me your favorite. (Remember Subliminal Man I hope I remind you of him and he made me laugh.)
Okay, the topic is "Tattoos: Like 'em or leave 'em? And, do you have any?"
I'll start with the easy question first. I do not have any tattoos and I do not feel the need to ever procure one.
As a child, the only time I remember seeing tattoos were on men who had been in the navy. And I mean specifically the navy. I don't recall ever hearing a former Marine say, "I got this tattoo when I was in the Armed Forces." For some reason it was always the sailors who had them. The tattoos were always on their hairy forearms and the ink was always a washed out greenish-blue color. So that was my introduction to the world of tattoos.
Of course nowadays tattoos are in vogue and more often than not I see them on 20-something women. My usual reaction is to wonder about the psychology behind a tattoo. Why would someone want to permanently brand themselves?
Apparently I am not the only one wondering about that because The Learning Channel has so kindly explained the mechanics of tattooing to me, via the show "Miami Ink." Now there is a spin off called "LA Ink" however, I have yet to see an episode. Anyway, people seem to want to express themselves in a permanent way for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it is to remember a loved one who has died. Sometimes a tattoo represents a personal accomplishment.
I have found the show to be very intriguing as I have learned some of the techniques of tattooing. I had always wondered how the design of the tattoo is transferred to the skin. Through the show, I learned that the design is drawn on special paper and then the paper transfers the design to the skin. From there the tattoo artist has a template to work from.
As I suspected, the process is painful and it takes a while. On "Miami Ink," they show the person's tattoo right after it was finished and it is glossy with some kind of lotion or oil spread over the skin. Then they show a photo of the tattoo a couple of months later when the skin has healed.
I do admire the artwork of some of those tattoos. I am fascinated by the people who create a "shirt," if you will, of tattoos up and down their arms, chest and back. That seems so incredibly painful to me (especially the skin over one's rib cage). But clearly it is worth the effort for those folks because they keep going back for more.
I tend to be practical and somewhat reserved, so I always wonder how those tattoos are received at the person's workplace. Of course you have the people whose tattoos can be easily covered.
Those are not the people I'm talking about. I am talking about the people who have the arm sleeves of tattoos. Do they wear long-sleeves at work even in the summer? Or are they out there with it -- love me, love my tattoo boss-man.
I suppose it would be discrimination to avoid hiring based on appearance, but we all know discrimination still happens. It is just shrouded in other terms. "Bruce, we were not able to place you in our corporation because your knowledge of Microsoft Word was not as extensive as we would have liked."
Once I did ask a man I met in a waiting room about his sleeve of tattoos. He worked for UPS as a driver/delivery guy and he said he wore a long-sleeved shirt all year round to cover the tattoos at work. He admitted it gets hot in the summer wearing long sleeves but that is how he deals with his tattoos at the work place. He also said a lot of people judge him negatively because of the tattoos (before they get to know him) and that bothered him.
I guess my answer to the more difficult question (like 'em or leave 'em) has a lot of "if, then" statements to it.
If the tattoo is tasteful, then I don't mind it. If the tattoo is extensive and covers a large part of the body, then I am fascinated by it. If the tattoo is small, then I am curious as to why it was placed where it was placed.
My final answer, however, is: If the tattoo is on someone other than me, then I'm cool with it.
2007-09-15 at 6:24 a.m.
