I was tattooing at a busy shop outside of Ft Benning Ga.
Don was stationed there working as a Ranger instructor. He got tattooed at the shop and soon became my client.within a few months he began working there also learning how to tattoo and working the 10-3am shift. We were friends , he had a girlfriend and I was married to another tattooer at the shop and had a little boy.
Don became a close family friend, a trusted coworker and I know that we really bonded during the hours spent tattooing him.
I guess we were friends and coworkers for about 2 years or so when I became single again.
I can't say that we had a wild romance but just that we were such good friends and we really liked and respected one another.
Our first date , so to speak, was in June - and we were married at the end of November.
For the next 10 years we tattooed wherever Don was stationed ( he worked in the army and tattooed till he retired from the military, almost 10 years ago) We also went on to have 5 more children.
this November we'll be married 20 years.
At my business, I always say:
The customer is always right, but management decides when you're a customer.
If the man with the money is an asshole, he's not the boss. He's an asshole who we eject. As an ownership team we decide what's best for the business. If someone comes in with a swagger and is disrespectful of our business or staff, we don't need their money. We have pride in what WE do and don't sell that out to the highest bidder. We had a gentleman in last night who was screaming "I pay your salary!"
He was saying that from the street, cause he certainly wasn't coming back in.
