Considering getting a tattoo

Parent Cafe
1

<p>I know tattoos are bad when applying for a job, but I really want to get one in memory of my grandfather. </p>

<p>He was a huge fan of Disney and particularly Mickey Mouse. I want to get a really simple Mickey Mouse on the top of my foot (just the three circles that make up his head and ears). It wouldn’t even be filled in, just those three circles that make up mickeys head. I would want it to be about the size of a penny.</p>

<p>It would be easily covered when wearing shoes, so would this be an issue when I apply for jobs?</p>

2

<p>If the employer won’t see it, I don’t see how it would be a problem.</p>

3

<p>My advice re tattoos: don’t. Do you really think a tattoo is the best way to remember and honor your grandfather?</p>

4

<p>Not unless you are going to the interview with bare feet! Tattoos aren’t much of an issue at most workplaces anymore. We’ve had this fight on CC several times now. I am a lawyer with a visible arm tattoo (not big), and it hasn’t hurt my career at all. A tattoo on your foot is not going to be an issue.</p>

5

<p>I think it depends on what kind of company/career you’re hoping to work at. But if they can’t see it, it won’t matter.</p>

6

<p>I think a tattoo is a great way to honor your grandfather and you will have the memory of him whenever you look at it.</p>

7

<p>I am currently working on my mechanical engineering degree. My dream job would be working as a Disney imagineer (ride engineer).</p>

8

<p>Everyone I know that has a tattoo regrets it. Wait 5 years and IF you still want it - go ahead. A friend of mine has spent thousands having hers removed from her upper arm. I agree there are much better ways to honor and remember your grandfather.</p>

9

<p>If you really want to do it and don’t care about people’s reactions, do it. Some people love tattoos, some are indifferent, and some really really don’t like them. You can’t predict who will be sitting in judgment of you down the line. I suppose if it’s not a tattoo, it might be something else that would set that person off. But I don’t think you should have any ambivalence about it before you do it.</p>

<p>I must say, I was sitting in a waiting room the other day and I noticed a middle-aged woman with what looked like an awful skin cancer on her ankle. I looked again and it was just a misshapen and faded tattoo. If you get one, consider getting it on a part of your body that is not regularly exposed to sun. It might look better longer.</p>

10

<p>Use a sharpie and draw it in–that’s hard enough to get rid of. At least then you can decide where (and if) you really want one. And while your dream job is as a Disney imagineer–what happens when your job is at a competing company and you have Mickey?</p>

11

<p>If I end up at a competing company, it doesnt really matter. The tattoo is for my grandfather, who loved disney and mickey and that is connected to my fondest memories of him. </p>

<p>I understand that it is a very good possibility that I will never get a job at disney. But the tattoo is for my grandfather, not for disney.</p>

12

<p>I’ve had my first tattoos since 2000 and I don’t regret them at all. I am past middle aged, and they are not faded or wrinkled at all. I got a new one last year to celebrate a particularly hard marathon I finished for the 2nd time. I don’t know anyone who regrets their tattoos, including my daughter who is an Episcopal priest. I’m not sorry I waited until I was in my 40s for the first ones, though. I like the choices I made.</p>

13

<p>And I think I will take your suggestion and draw it with a sharpie first. It will definitely help me visualize living with it</p>

14

<p>Don’t do a sharpie. The ink is not good for you. Find a shop that will do a nice henna tattoo and live with it for a week or so.</p>

15

<p>Then draw a picture of the tattoo as it will look in 30 years when you have gotten fatter and your skin sags and the colors have faded. Picture yourself on a beach honoring your dear relative with a funny looking tattoo that everyone is laughing at.</p>

16

<p>It’s on his FOOT! I don’t think he’s going to get all that saggy. It might hurt, though.</p>

17

<p>A tattoo should be viewed as a commitment for life. With that said, is there any reason you can think of, that may come up in the future, for you to want to get rid of a small, fairly hidden tattoo that is in memorial to your grandfather?
Make sure you know where you want it and find a reputable artist with a strong portfolio. Yes, even if it is a small, simple tattoo. Think of it as an investment for the rest of your life so don’t go with one of those $20 quickie tattoos. Ask people you see with tattoos you like, search yelp, and places like bmz.com. They will give you a good idea of where to go/what to spend.</p>

18

<p>Using a sharpie to test it out is a great suggestion! I am not a fan of body art in general, but even I do not think that getting a simple three-circle tattoo in a place where it can be easily concealed is a career ruining move. And a small sharpie drawing is not going to ruin your health.</p>

<p>2redhares has very good suggestions.</p>

19

<p>Let me get this straight–a couple weeks of sharpie ink isn’t good for you but ink embedded in your skin for life is fine? Go for the sharpie–nobody will die from it and it’s cheap.
Honestly, I admire you for wanting to honor your grandfather but I personally don’t think tattoos do that. They may remind YOU of what your grandfather meant to you on a personal level but they don’t really honor him in any way (unless he loved tattoos as well). Nobody else will know about him from a mickey mouse tattoo. I think there are better ways to honor the people in our lives from gathering pictures and writings so future generations have some memories preserved to planting trees or donating picnic benches in his name that others can enjoy.</p>

20

<p>Gouf78 don’t put words in my mouth. I never said it was ok. In fact I’m against tattoos. But there is a big difference between sharpie in leaching into your skin (the ink has several really bad chemicals in ink) vs tattoo ink which is FDA approved for skin contact.</p>