A Prime Example

I have started the third treatment on my "Stars & Seagulls" tattoo. It has started to make me feel strange. I hope it is emotional, and has nothing to do with this chemical soaking into my skin (and into my brain).

I feel strangely at peace with the idea of my tattoos lately. I am no more proud of them, but I am not ashamed to show them any more. Maybe it is because I know they are going away? Maybe it is because I am an idiot.

Either way, I feel different. When I put my finger on it, I'll invest more time explaining myself. For now, I'd like to leave it alone.

I have other things I'd like to talk about, like setting examples.

How many times a day do you see a pretty young lady covered in tattoos, who happens to also be pushing a stroller? How many times a day do you see a woman who is aging, even if she is aging well, and is covered in tattoos? How does she make you feel, this aging tattooed woman?

What exactly are we telling our children when we choose to alter ourselves?
It seems to me that we are letting them know that it's OK to live only for today. We are telling them that they aren't cool enough without tattoos. What do they think when they see you in the grocery store with your gloriously sleeved arms?

I remember being slightly frightened by people who had tattoos. Kids should be scared of people with tattoos. When I was growing up, most people who had tattoos were either in the military, or had been incarcerated. Tattoos sort of say "I like pain", and maybe "I like to do things without thinking".

If you happen to have tattoos, please know that I am talking about you. You can't possibly be thinking clearly when you sit down in a chair and ask someone to stab you repeatedly for however long it takes to imprint some ridiculous design into your flesh.

Do you really think Tool and Metallica care that you had their album art  permanently placed onto your body? No. They don't care at all. Before you decided to emblazon yourself with their logos, did you think about where these hardcore people would be in 50 years?

Do you think your tattoos are going to look the same in 10, 20, 30, or 40 years later? Let me tell ya. Your tramp stamp is going to be drooping into your butt crack, the tiger on your back is going to be nearly extinct, and the dainty sparrow on your hip bone is going to be covered in folds of old, wrinkled skin.

During your 20's and 30's, your skin is about as nice as it is ever going to be. Why are you mucking it up with ridiculous tattoos?

I dare you to think about the consequences of your actions before you act. Don't stop with one or two good or bad outcomes. Exhaust yourself with all of the possibilities, and see if you still think that getting a tattoo is a good idea.