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There was a thug in the next town over from mine. He thought it would be cool to get a tattoo of his gun at his waistline (so it looked as if it was tucked into his pants.</p>
<p>So he got one. It was extremely accurate and detailed, right down to the serial number on the side. Which made it trivial to connect the gun to him after he used it to commit a crime.</p>
<p>Oops.</p>
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<p>I would like to say that, unless this is also your grandmother, what is touching to you is irrelevant and commenting on it is in poor taste - as in upper middle class and upper class poor taste.</p>
<p>The problem with tattoos is their permanence. They may be very fashionable now, but you’ll be stuck with them long after the fad has gone out of style. Imagine being stuck today wearing the same clothes and hair style you wore 10 or 15 years ago. With a tattoo that’s going to be your situation 10 or 15 years from now.</p>
<p>That is not true, Tattoos aren’t a “trend” or “style”. They have always been around and will always be around I am pretty sure. I see plenty of old men and woman with tattoos.</p>
<p>Thank goodness the bellbottoms I wore in the 1970’s, my feathered bangs from the 1980’s, or the eye makeup I wore in the 1990’s, didn’t get permanently welded to me. You seriously don’t think your tastes will ever change?</p>
<p>I work in finance and had to decline a recent candidate for a job because of ear plugs and tattoos. Smart kid, but in my profession of financial planning, no one would take him seriously. He had the plugs out for the interview, and it looked disgusting. Huge holes and ear lobes that flopped around. The tattoos were horrible and would bring down the credibility of the firm. He had passed all the exams and was obviously smart. But he would have to have his ears surgically repaired and remove the tattoos on his neck and knuckles before he could see clients. Then a suit and long sleeves all the time. I guess he could open up his own firm and cater to the entertainment / music industry. But for our general practice – no way…</p>
<p>I am hiring a receptionist for my company right now and thought about this thread. How people choose to present themselves at the interview tells me a lot about them. Did they show up on time, are they dressed appropriately, do they look me in the eye when they speak?</p>
<p>I have to figure out in a 30 minute interview if they’ll show up everyday and on time, pick up tasks quickly, not gossip all day, limit personal phone calls and online surfing, will they always have drama going on with their baby daddy or bff, will they be organized and efficient, will they be friendly to people walking in, what does their voice sound like, can they take direction, adapt to new situations, speak to customers on the phone confidently, know when something is an emergency, etc. Will they get along with the other staff members, do I like them enough to deal with them everyday, will they bring something to the table, will they be a clock watcher, use every second of their leave the minute they get it. I think you get the drift - way more goes into my thought process when I interview than the questions I ask the applicant. I have to not only figure out if they can do the job, I have to figure out if they’ll fit in the office, follow the rules and be an independent dependable worker.</p>
<p>I have to interview all day today and I’m dreading it. And I do tell people we have a non-smoking office. The non-smokers tell me they don’t smoke, the smokers tell me it won’t be a problem. I won’t hire a smoker knowingly. I also won’t hire someone who doesn’t show up on time, someone who is rude to the staff while waiting to meet me, someone who looks scary or weird. And it’s like porn - you know it when you see it.</p>
<p>A lot goes into hiring, and it is true, I will judge you based on what you present to me to judge.</p>
<p>A tribute to a loved one is not something you put on your body that is covered at times and eventually put in the ground to be buried.</p>
<p>Please allow me to slightly alter a previous statement, so it makes more sense to redhead.(post223) Change it to read this way:
The popularity of tattoos is a fashion trend; as is the style chosen. No, tattoos aren’t new.
I repeat the trampstamp as an example. Wildly hot in the '90s, popular still in the 2000s, but fewer by comparison, getting them now. And as I said pages ago, and others repeated, it is dated, much like those still wearing a mullet today- except the guy in a mullet can easily be brought up to date.</p>
<p>What’s wrong with getting things that are, again, by <em>opinion</em>, out of style/date?</p>
<p>Tattoos aren’t permanent. Although costly and painful to remove, they are <em>not</em> permanent. </p>
<p>If the guy with the mullet chooses to live with it until the year 3000, will he be looked upon negatively enough to be passed over for a job? Will people (many on this thread) still express vehement opinions like they do about tattoos?</p>
<p>momma-three- what kind of tribute lasts forever? A picture? Could be torn, lost, etc. A video? Same thing. It means something to someone and that’s all that matters.</p>
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<p>Who are YOU to judge how someone chooses to honor and remember a loved one? I have a number of friends who found great comfort in getting a tattoo in remembrance of a loved one, especially a lost child.</p>
<p>Not to feed the tattoo-haters, but I saw a funny facebook post this morning. “I assume that symbol tattooed on your neck is Chinese for Unemployed!”</p>
<p>Tattoos have for untold years been an indicator of social class. In the Navy, officers did not have tattoos, sailors might. (See “An Officer and a Gentleman” for an illustration of this.) So, to a somewhat lesser extent, have piercings. One did not see little children of the upper middle class with pierced ears. One DID see it among certain ethnic groups that were generally lower in the social pecking order. At a certain point, I recall when multiple ear piercings started to become more common. The girls I came into contact with–I was working in NYC and environs at the time–who had them were far more likely to be non-college grads from working class families than upper middle grads of elite colleges. </p>
<p>This is pretty much ingrained in many of us, right or wrong. And since these are things that one CHOOSES to do, there is no moral/ethical impetus to try to train oneself out of it, as a moral/ethical person might confront their ingrained racism and try to overcome it. It is just like dress and hairstyle choice: it projects something about a person. </p>
<p>When I see a person with visible tattoos and piercings beyond the single earlobe thing, I don’t think they are a BAD person, but I do instinctively revise my initial expectation of their social class and education downwards. Of course, upon getting to know them this might change, and it is somewhat dependent upon generation. But it IS my initial impression.</p>
<p>I agree that it is not for someone else to say what is and is not an “appropriate” tribute to a loved one.</p>
<p>Consolation ^ I have two earlobe piercing per ear, and one cartilage piercing per ear (6 total). I don’t have rings in my earlobes, just the cartilages (but does having a ring in or not matter?) if you saw me would your expectations of my educational background/pathway (since I’m only a HS senior, where I am headed to) and my social class be “lowered”? </p>
<p>It’s mind-blowing what goes on inside people’s head about you, with just a 5-second visual “analysis”.</p>
<p>[Mark</a> Wahlberg showed kids painful reality of tattoo removal | Celebrities and Entertainment News, Rumors and Gossip - seattlepi.com](<a href=“http://blog.seattlepi.com/people/2011/02/09/mark-wahlberg-showed-kids-painful-reality-of-tattoo-removal/]Mark”>http://blog.seattlepi.com/people/2011/02/09/mark-wahlberg-showed-kids-painful-reality-of-tattoo-removal/)</p>
<p>It’s mind-blowing what goes on inside people’s head about you, with just a 5-second visual “analysis”.</p>
<p>It saves time.
We learn a lot about someone by the way they choose to present themselves to the world. Their facial expression, their body language, not just how they dress and wear their hair. Of course we learn more about them, the longer we know them. But to say physical presentation is unimportant is false.</p>
<p>I don’t mind tasteful tattoos although I think plugs & most facial and body piercing is unattractive. I think in our culture wearing a facial piercing is a label- yet you aren’t necessarily controlling what that label says- because those who see it will have their own interpretation.</p>
<p>Something that looks disturbing to you, that is just hard to look at, is a problem for mainly that reason. For those who dislike them, tattoos are more of an aesthetic displeasure than a disturbance. While I wouldn’t want my daughters to get tattoos, I’m more disturbed by some other things done in the name of beauty. That excessively smooth Botoxed look, facelifts and impossibly delicate noses. Asian girls who get their eyes surgically altered to look wider. Contact lenses that make the wearers irises appear larger than they are. Breast “augmentation” that looks firm enough to break through an arctic ice floe. It’s all supposed to be subtle and reassuringly pretty but so much of it looks instantly unreal and more like a freak show to me.</p>
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<p>How about excessive lip fillers? I have never seen artificially enhanced lips that looked good, not ever. I agree with you, those things often make the person look so much worse; they seem desperate and pathetic. I don’t know how the people who are doing these things don’t realize that.</p>
<p>Ugh, lip fillers too, I had forgotten about them. I tried a “lip plumper” lip gloss a few years ago and realized that it worked by provoking some kind of allergic reaction that would make your lips swell. At least it was temporary!</p>
<p>I’ll add men who shave their body hair to the freaky list too. Unless they’re about to jump in the water for a swim competition.</p>
<p>An attractive person with a tattoo is like a Ferrari with a “South of the Border” bumper sticker.</p>
<p>In my opinion, of course.</p>
<p>Greenwitch: with regard to men who shave their bodies… I know a lot of cyclists who wax their legs. Makes it a lot easier to treat the inevitable scrapes they get in cyclocross and mountain biking. It used to bother me, and now all I think is “cyclist.”</p>
<p>I’m not a fan of hairy chests or, even worse, hairy backs so I’m fine with men shaving or waxing those areas.</p>