quote:

Originally posted by sigmonkey:
I long ago stopped being concerned about how one looks, as I focus on how one acts or behaves.

Somethings are still "indicators", just like in nature, and serve as a warning or a welcome.

But I am still a human and capable of bias and prejudice when I do not have good reason.

I'll work on that.

Bingo!
However, something universal about that neck/face tattoo...

personally, I have 0 fucks to give if you have tat ts or not,

was at a concert last night (Violent Femmes and Echo & the Bunnymen ) and saw a very nice looking girl with a sleeve on her right arm,
she had that 40's pinup look going on , and it worked for her,

she was probably 30-----ish,

anyway,

RVA is one of the most tatt'ed cities, as far as the # of folks that have them and number of tattoo parlors,

had a guy that worked for me, light skinned black dude,
he had sleeves on both arms,, not too much color due to his skin tone , but what he had looked good,

he was working the fuel center kiosk at a store I was management in,

I get a call, disgruntled customer,
so I find the lady, and she tells me she is upset because the guy that helped her at the fuel center had a note pad with Satanic pictures on it,

she was offended, hurt, blah blah blah,

I did the due diligence and walked out to see him after I got her calmed down and gone,

sure enough, he had a pad with some doodles on it,

just random designs, nothing with any sort of theme or symbols that would suggest 'satan' or 'the devil'

since this guy was a good worker, and we got along well, I told him what happened, why I was out there, and gave him about a minute of hard time over fuking off (if you ever have worked a fuel kiosk where most customers use credit/debit, you would realize how boring it is)

he was doodling a few designs for the non tatted parts of his arm, wanting to fill up the sleeve,

we both got a good laugh out of it, and later on I helped him with a better paying job at a local distributor(beverages)

quote:

Originally posted by Audioholic:
The trick is to stick to Salvador Dalí art. That way when everything sags with age no one can tell the difference.

You win!

“One of the common themes is that tattooing older skin takes more time. A tattoo that might only take one session to complete for an 18 year old client could end up taking two or three sessions for someone more senior. This is because skin becomes thinner and more susceptible to bruising as we age. Aged skin is more fragile, there is a loss of subcutaneous fat, and aging skin repairs itself more slowly than young skin. All these factors will affect the way an artist approaches aging skin.”

quote:

Originally posted by MWC:
If you don't like it, then don't look. It's not harming you, and if it's not harming you, then don't judge and the world will be a better place ...

quote:

Originally posted by MWC:


Yes. Seriously, what impact do tattoos have on the product you buy, the service you receive or the price you pay if you're satisfied with the product, service and price?

That seems defensive. You need not justify your tats to anybody, just as I don't need to justify my dislike of them to anybody.

I know a wide age range of folks with tats, I'd hardly call it a "fad."

Not many people get full sleeves, fewer still get neck and face tattoos. I doubt that will change.

There have been old people with tattoos for generations already.

Big deal.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:

quote:

Originally posted by MWC:
If you don't like it, then don't look. It's not harming you, and if it's not harming you, then don't judge and the world will be a better place ...

quote:

Originally posted by MWC:


Yes. Seriously, what impact do tattoos have on the product you buy, the service you receive or the price you pay if you're satisfied with the product, service and price?

That seems defensive. You need not justify your tats to anybody, just as I don't need to justify my dislike of them to anybody.

You're projecting. And you took two of my posts out of their context to create a different, and inane, narrative around them, which is rather simple-minded IMO. Pissing and moaning about a person with tattoos, well that seems like you're pretty tightly wound, narrow-minded and lacking any real problems in your life

Last week I was walking through an REI-type store. I spotted this young gal down the aisle looking at clothing on a rack and, given my lecherous proclivities, decided to wander that way to get a better look see.

As I approached her she was standing in profile at the clothes rack and I marveled at her beauty. She was just simply stunning in looks and body. A fella couldn't find a better looking gal if he tried. Then...

She turned and faced the other way showing me the opposite side of her body, on which was a full arm sleeve tattoo going clear up onto her neck.

This take your breath away beautiful young woman went from goddess to trailer trash in about a half of a second.

Why in the hell anyone would permanently mark up their body like that is beyond me.

quote:

Originally posted by MWC:

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by MWC:

quote:

Originally posted by MWC:

Guys...

quote:

Originally posted by PHPaul:

On my evil planet, if you're THAT far outside the norm, you need to expect some folks to be a little less than accepting.

And frankly, I'm more than a bit tired of this "judgemental" label. EVERYBODY makes judgements every day. It's a survival skill.

It's all good though. Life would be awfully boring if we were all clones of each other.

Whose norm?

Obviously yours, but most likely not his. YOU'RE the one outside the norm in his..or her...eyes. Sure we all judge, but we don't have to act testy about it. Like I said, if they have what you want, doesn't it behoove you to keep it to yourself and suck it up? I do that all the time. Sure, I make judgments on people, and I think "Whew that's a heck of a look" frequently. However, when it comes right down to it, treating them any different than the middle aged guy on the Harley, or the clean cut kid with the junior lawyer outfit on doesn't make any sense.

What you think really matters not one bit to them, so the only one getting negativity out of this is you. Life's too short.

Now, having said that. If his attitude and service suck, well that's just a whole other kettle of fish.

quote:

Originally posted by Otto Pilot:
What you think really matters not one bit to them,

But shouldn't it though?

Shouldn't we all at least attempt to conform to societal norms rather than being the rebel in whom it matters not one bit?

Shouldn't we think to ourselves, before making a stupid decision, "you know, the vast majority of society is going to look down on this, so maybe I shouldn't do it", rather than "FUCK 'EM!"?

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:
Last week I was walking through an REI-type store. I spotted this young gal down the aisle looking at clothing on a rack and, given my lecherous proclivities, decided to wander that way to get a better look see.

As I approached her she was standing in profile at the clothes rack and I marveled at her beauty. She was just simply stunning in looks and body. A fella couldn't find a better looking gal if he tried. Then...

She turned and faced the other way showing me the opposite side of her body, on which was a full arm sleeve tattoo going clear up onto her neck.

This take your breath away beautiful young woman went from goddess to trailer trash in about a half of a second.

Why in the hell anyone would permanently mark up their body like that is beyond me.

I dated a girl with a port-wine birthmark going from her chest to neck and a little into her face. No problems. The sleeve-neck tattoo, no thanks.

Yes, of course we judge other people. We profile them, we categorize them, we assess their (and our) positions in the pecking order, and many more things. If we and our evolutionary ancestors hadn’t done those things throughout our development, we wouldn’t be here because we would have been out-competed by creatures that did. One of the best ways of identifying other life forms that might be dangerous to us is how they look: If they’re different from what we’re used to, including ourselves, they may pose a threat. The period that that hasn’t been too much to worry about (in this country, anyway) has been an eyeblink of evolutionary and cultural time.

And false positives are far less dangerous than false negatives. The consequences of mistaking a noise for a saber-toothed cat that was actually just the wind were far less than mistaking a noise for the wind that was actually a saber-toothed cat. Likewise today the consequences of rejecting the company of someone who is weird looking and yet might just wish to give us money are less than the possible consequences of dealing with someone whose antisocial urges might extend to his personal dealings with others.

I see a ton of people under 25 who have covered there arms with random trendy stuff. I say trendy, because everyone has the same 10 tattoos. This is because of websites like Pinterest. A person gets a tattoo, then they put it online and 20,000 people copy it. Tattoos are now treated as fashion.

History has shown fashion to be a trend. I have been getting laser removal for 4 years now on the one tattoo I got when I was 20, so far $3k worth and several more treatments needed. I think I paid $140 for a dumb tribal dragon. A hot trend in 2002, ugh!

ETA: Apparently ffps pruned his post

No angst at all, it has nothing to do with liberties, and your argument couldn't be more apples and oranges.

I you want to cover yourself in tattoos, if she wants to cover herself in tattoos, if anyone wants to cover themselves in tattoos...go for it. Just do not be surprised when people judge you, because they will.

I was told a long time ago that if you don't want people to judge a book by it's cover, don't put an ugly cover on it.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:
ETA: Apparently ffps pruned his post

No angst at all, it has nothing to do with liberties, and your argument couldn't be more apples and oranges.

I you want to cover yourself in tattoos, if she wants to cover herself in tattoos, if anyone wants to cover themselves in tattoos...go for it. Just do not be surprised when people judge you, because they will.

I was told a long time ago that if you don't want people to judge a book by it's cover, don't put an ugly cover on it.

Agreed, one must be ready for any repercussions to their chosen walk outside of social norms.

I had already nuked my prior post while you were writing because I didn't like how the quotes were selected. We aren't on opposite sides of the fence, I simply like to play devil's advocate at times in an attempt to expand points of view.

edited to add Apologies for the prune. I second guess myself at times and err toward caution.

That said, I had quoted Gustofer and asked "where do their liberties end and yours begin?" I then went on to compare the choice to get a tat or tat sleeves to one choosing to carry a gun. The idea being that most of society doesn't "agree" with the choice.

Next time, I'll let the post stand.

Understood.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:

quote:

Originally posted by Otto Pilot:
What you think really matters not one bit to them,

But shouldn't it though?

Shouldn't we all at least attempt to conform to societal norms rather than being the rebel in whom it matters not one bit?

Shouldn't we think to ourselves, before making a stupid decision, "you know, the vast majority of society is going to look down on this, so maybe I shouldn't do it", rather than "FUCK 'EM!"?

But does the vast majority of society look down on them? I kind of doubt it.

You want to emulate a society where everyone obeys social norms, eh? I don't. I've been to Japan. Love to visit, wouldn't want to live there. Freaks, weirdos and nonconformists keep things spicy. And weren't we creeped out by the information out of China about how they have developed experimentally a "social credit rating" where if folks don't think well of you and you don't fit in, you can't even buy a plane ticket? No thanks.

I don't give two craps what you look like, sound like, or how you dress as long as you generally treat each me by the Golden Rule and behave with integrity. Funny thing is, the people that have caused me the most problems in my life seemed to fit right squarely in the "normal" look category. The outliers...not as much.

Seems like some folks are going tit-for-tat in this thread.

quote:

Originally posted by Audioholic:
The trick is to stick to Salvador Dalí art. That way when everything sags with age no one can tell the difference.

Bon mot!

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:

quote:

Originally posted by Otto Pilot:
What you think really matters not one bit to them,

But shouldn't it though?

Shouldn't we all at least attempt to conform to societal norms rather than being the rebel in whom it matters not one bit?

Shouldn't we think to ourselves, before making a stupid decision, "you know, the vast majority of society is going to look down on this, so maybe I shouldn't do it", rather than "FUCK 'EM!"?

Who chooses what is normal? And does it never change? As tattoos become more and more popular and "normal" will you feel the need to get one in order to conform?

Doubtful. Nor should you. Conformity to something simply because it is popular is weakness IMO. You don't seem like a weak person to me.

So if you are unwilling to conform to someone else's standards of normality then why should they conform to yours? Simply because yours is older? I doubt very seriously that you conform to every standard of normal that your great-grandparents did. "Normal" changes. It evolves over time.

For the record, yes I have a tattoo. I have one and nobody has ever seen it except the tattoo artist and my ex-wife. I don't regret it and likely never will.

Oh and also FWIW my grandfather who served in the Navy during WWII had a tattoo on his forearm below the elbow. He got it when he was still in the Navy. So if it's a fad it's a pretty long term one