<p>You’ll get sick of a car after 10yrs. Most homes last 30 but a tatoo is forever. I was on a snorkling excursion on a cruise and there was a family. Brazilian and a young girl (18-20) had a dice tattoo on her ankle, number one and two. Not sure what she would choose that (Domino’s pizza lover maybe) but thats forever. Seems stupid to me. </p>
<p>Ah, the semi annual tattoo thread, was wondering when it would show up…</p>
<p>Yes, Tattoos are a fad of sorts, but the fact that it transcends age groups and that the largest group with them is not kids in their 20’s, but rather those in their 30’s, says a lot, because people in their 30’s are generally a lot more cognizant about what they do. What I would counsel anyone getting tattoos to do is think about the permanence and get something that truly has meaning to you, whether it is a spiritual symbol, and animal you love, whatever it is, rather than something transitory. I do question kids getting it when drunk in college, in high school, and the serious tattoo artists often will turn away people who they think are doing it for the wrong reasons (there is a guy here in NYC like that I have read about, among other things, he won’t do any tattoos that cannot be covered up for jobs and such). I don’t like people doing things to go along with the crowd in general, whether it is fashion trends or what they watch or listen to or whatever, and with Tattoos I think they should be something individual to them. I know people in alternative lifestyles (whatever you want to call it) who have Tattoos that have meaning, it isn’t quite the same thing as getting a girl or guy’s name tattooed on you when you have dated a couple of weeks…</p>
<p>And yep, there are a lot of crappy tattoos, but there are a lot of crappy things out there, lot of skyscrapers in Manhattan that are proletarian worker housing masquereding as office buildings, there are butt ugly cars out there people love, there are Doc Maarten’s boots that to me are hideous, and the list goes on…but to me there are also some that are art, and I can appreciate it. </p>
<p>As far as companies firing people for having Tattoos, depends on the company and what they want to do. To me, it is a foolish company that would turn away someone who potentially could be a superstar, because you don’t like the way they look, uptight companies like that very rarely produce all that much in the end, and generally in a couple of years end up being companies you read about in the Wall Street Journal “struggling” to reinvent themselves, IBM comes to mind, when I started working they were the corporate, stodgy standard that many held up to be a ‘great’ company, in the space of 10 years IBM was struggling to stay alive, and one of the first things they did was get rid of the button down shirt/dark blue suit mentality. Yeah, you can fire people in most states for almost anything, but if you want a company full of people who ‘fit the mould’ what you get is a company that often turns out things as if they are made in a mould…</p>
<p>I also am saddened when I see people judging people by the way they look. Motorcycles crack me up, a lot of people still have this image of motorcycles as the realm of derelict biker gangs and women of less than stellar virtue, when most bikes these days are being bought by men and women who are so mainstream it is almost radical, that ‘biker club’ you see riding on a weekend is probably full of doctors, lawyers, architects and accountants, not guys running crystal meth. One of the most incredible classical music chamber groups I have seen has a lead violinist who has tattoos up both his arms, and he and the group is fantastic, and certainly isn’t boring the way some other groups make me feel…</p>
<p>Yeah, I hear about how bad it will look when you get older, how it will be this blue gray blob, etc. Like anything else, that isn’t true, most of the tattoos you see like that were done by tattoo shops with people who didn’t know what they were doing, long before you had what you do today. They look like that because the designs were not well done to start with, and had no idea of making something that could last. There are a ton of bad tattoo shops out there, the kind of places you see even out in staid old suburbia, or in certain areas of NYC, that I wouldn’t touch with a 10 foot pole, they cater to stupid kids and drunken people out for a thrill…but if someone goes to someone who has a reputation for good work, and works with them, there is no reason it cannot continue to look good. With a modicum of care, and with some maintenance (colors can be redone, for example), no reason it can’t continue to look good. And if the body gets a bit more wrinkled, if the tattoo fades softly, it is the tattoo growing old with the person. As far as being silly, I think it is more like looking at it and remembering a life where someone did something that meant something to them, and can smile at the wrinkles they share with it and say “we have had one hell of a ride”. I think I would rather grow old and look at something I wanted to do and be glad I did it, then one of the old people who might be all pure and pristine, who sit there and judge others because of the way they lived their life, and besides coming off as jerks, also generally regret like heck the things they never did. As a therapist, a good friend, told me, we should come to the end of our life, all worn up and used out, and say “man, that was one heck of a life”, not think about the things we avoided doing so we could come to the end of the line, unmarked, but wondering why life had passed you by. </p>
<p>Doesn’t mean I think everyone should get a tattoo, or that if they don’t they are foolish, but rather maybe in life we should take a lot less time judging others for their choices and lives, and instead spend time figuring out ways to live our lives with meaning, rather than living the life that other people claim is meaningful. </p>
<p>What I find personally amusing is that some of my tattoo’d acquaintances would never actually draw on their skin with marker or ink. They are really turned off at the idea. I think it might be a good way to try on the idea … draw that cute little owl on your shoulder and live with it for a week.</p>
<p>musicprnt, regarding the whole “judging” thing I agree with you in theory. But the harsh reality is that we ALL judge each other every day. I think that if one cannot acknowledge that they judge, they are being intellectually dishonest. While maybe you “get” that the biker crew are not all derelicts, perhaps you view the Wall Streeter in a suit as uptight. Perhaps you meet someone who is a conformist and take a dislike to them because you don’t generally like people who “go along with the crowd.” And when you meet someone wearing Doc Martens you might think you would not gel as you think Doc Martens are hideous. </p>
<p>The best I can do is try to acknowledge it when I find myself judging another person because of the way they look. And then try to re-think it. Some judgments I am happy to discard, but others I am not. Judgments are protective in a way; most people know their comfort zones and sometimes (not always) it makes sense to stay within that zone.</p>
<p>I’ve had my tattoo for almost 20 years, and I still love it (and it still looks great). I thought about it for a year before I actually got it. I did not want to regret the decision. </p>
<p>I’m quite conservative in dress and demeanor, and I’d hazard a guess that 90% of the people I know don’t realize I have it. I got it for myself, not for the rest of the world. </p>
<p>The design is very meaningful to me, plus it’s just beautiful. </p>
<p>I’m thinking about getting another, very small tattoo in a few years, but I haven’t made up my mind yet.</p>
<p>I don’t especially care for huge tattoos in very visible places, but if other people want to do that, it’s not my business.</p>
<p>Not a fan. I’ve tried to like them. It’s just not me.
I don’t mind very small,pretty ones.</p>
<p>I do not care for tattoos. I never have. I guess when I was young (age 5 or 6) I saw someone with tattoos everywhere, and it scared me. Now this was almost 60 years ago, and tattoos were pretty much left to the world of sailors or unsavory individuals. I haven’t like them ever since. </p>
<p>My husband’s youngest brother has a number of tattoos. The latest is his daughter’s face taken from a photo. It is a lovely picture, but I don’t get it. He and his wife have struggled financially over the years. I really didn’t understand spending money on them. How much do tattoos cost? I am sure that the cost is based on size or complexity. I could think of a number of other things that the money could have been spent on.</p>
<p>I have told my family that the only tattoo I would consider having is DNR on my chest. I would have to be old and senile to have it done. That is the only one I could think of getting.</p>
<p>There was an article a few months back in the New Haven Register. It was about the class divide, the poor getting poorer and how they scrape by to live each month on public assistance. There were pictures of the young couple and all of their children. What stuck out for me and the majority of online commenters was the fact that they each were covered with tattoos. Tattoos cost several hundreds of dollars. They are by no means cheap. They received very little sympathy from those who read their plight.</p>
<p>I will also add that the majority of people that I see with tattoos are teenagers and 20 something’s. </p>
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<p>Amen. I’ve always admired the tuxedos that Jim Carey and Jeff Daniels wore in that movie. But I don’t think I’m quite tall enough or slim enough to get the same look that they had, so I just have the stodgy old black one. And even it doesn’t work for me the way it did for Sean Connery. Maybe I should reconsider my view on tattoos. </p>
<p>I love and appreciate art so I think one of the things I dislike about really intricate ones is…to me, skin is just not a great canvas. JMO.</p>
<p>I just don’t like tattoos. I think that they are ugly and trashy looking. Just my opinion.</p>
<p>Everyone that thinks tattoos are tacky and gross-looking obviously has never seen a real, honest to god beautiful tattoo. Good tattoo artists are just that, artists. The people that wear them are carrying around a masterpiece on their arm. If it’s not your cup of tea, that’s fine, but recognize that for many people their ink isn’t some drunken decision, it’s a meaningful part of their body.</p>
<p>I do not like them, although I am sure many of the tattoo artists are exceptional artists. I prefer my art on the wall. Whatever floats your boat.</p>
<p>What stuck out for me and the majority of online commenters was the fact that they each were covered with tattoos</p>
<p>Not really seeing the covered in tattoos.
Looks like a small one on the cheekbone, that might even have been done to themselves.</p>
<p><a href=“New Haven divided by growing income disparity”>http://www.nhregister.com/article/NH/20140222/NEWS/140229727</a></p>
<p>Love when this comes up every year - put me on the side of “don’t like 'em.”</p>
<p>No, I don’t like them either. I express my tastes by decorating my home, not my body. I love jewelry and my tastes have changed over the years. I wouldn’t want to permanently alter my body. My nieces on my husband’s side of the family are all inked up, one to the point of looking really gross …she also has facial piercings . It upsets my husband and his parents quite a bit.
The other day, I interviewed a young lady for a job and hired her. Before she left , she told me she has tattoos and asked me if that was okay ? I found that interesting because I already noticed something rather small on her forearm. It wasn’t anything alarming and certainly not anything that would affect her job performance, but I might not be so casual about it if she was working directly with one part of our business if she was inked up like a carny </p>
<p>A number of my classmates have gotten tattoos as they’ve turned 18 this year. All of them, in my opinion, distasteful such as cheetah print, flowers, ones that cover the entire ribcage to upper torso, and stuff like that. I think those are ones that will be judged. But I think tattoos that are meaningful… such as one of friends that had a sibling die unexpectedly and got a tattoos memorating them… are special and have good taste.
I will probably not got a tattoos ever unless I get to the Olympics or a miracle.</p>
<p>Hmm. FWIW, as a westerner, I think all tattoos fall into the tacky category, even if they’re beautiful and meaningful – and even though I have one in a non-public spot on the body (no regrets). But, I take a “whatever” POV about them, even if the person has, basically, full-body tattoos. However, must say: I really don’t understand Sinead O’Connor’s new FACE cheek tattoos.* — What makes me want to toss my cookies, body-art-wise, are those horrible earlobe plugs. You see a lot of them on (in?) hipster college students nowadays. Ewwww! </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/sinead-oconnor-shows-new-bq-2340852”>http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/sinead-oconnor-shows-new-bq-2340852</a></p>
<p>I don’t like tattoos
19 yrs old here…not that my age matters but its a fairly young opinion </p>
<p>“Everyone that thinks tattoos are tacky and gross-looking obviously has never seen a real, honest to god beautiful tattoo. Good tattoo artists are just that, artists”</p>
<p>I personally dislike ink on skin and can’t ever find it attractive. I don’t care if Van Gogh or Vermeer drew it. But that’s me. I feel strongly about no tattoos for me and mine, but I don’t spend my time worrying about other people’s tattoos. I don’t care for them aesthetically but maybe they don’t like something I do aesthetically and the world still turns. </p>