JBluewind

One of my favorites from my brother.
"Is that the mark of the devil"
"No its a symbol from some hp Lovecraft fan art"
"Sounds like the mark of the devil to me" :cool:

Contractor "What is all that shit? Spilling out of the collar eh. What did you get drunk a few times since we finished that last project?"
it was all jokes...but I get this often - equating tattoos to a foolish drunken mistake...yeah sure duh

I'm at my machine shop job this evening and a part time programmer stops in to check on a job we're running. He's seen me in a sleeveless shirt before but stops and says, "geeezzzz.. you have a lot of tattoos".. no kidding.
I wonder what's up.. and out it comes. He has 2 daughters, age 16 and close to 18 and they're both dying for their first tattoo. Of course he and his wife say to wait until the girls are 18.. but his wife now wants to get one. So he's in a bit of a bind. He's no fan of the art form.
He asks me if I have any regrets, I say no. I have no problem, but the rest of the world might. I just told him not to make that big of a deal out of it... teen girls... can be quite rebellious. And once they don't need permission, they're gonna do what they're gonna do. I advised him to talk to them about going to a reputable shop when the time comes and avoid "artists" who work out of the kitchen while the parents are at work.

best of luck with your treatment.
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best of luck with your treatment @Mushu
Seeing this thread pop up reminded me that my dad excitedly told me one of my tattoos was starting to fade. He kind of had an "I told you so quality" in his voice that both myself and my wife picked up on.
Sorry dad, my skin is just a little dry. One quick application of lotion and the tattoo I got last summer in Japan still looks amazing.

Yeah, it was a generalized statement that he suddenly realized was actually shit hitting the fan. I was more focused on keeping her from exploding and kicking his ass (she grew up in South Jersey in a racially mixed neighborhood during the civil rights riots and can still handle herself). The family did what it took to moderate the situation instead of escalate it. Each family has it's fucked up chemistry and mine is no different. Fast forward... I no longer spend much time with them for several similar reasons.

Yikes!

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I remember talking about tattoos 15 years ago at my Dad's house. He has an old one on his shoulder from the navy, circa 1954. My wife just got a small traditional rose (her deceased mother's name was "Rose") and I already had two. My conservative brother then blurts out, "Only bikers and whores have tattoos."
You could hear a pin drop.
My wife was about to jump his shit when I jump in and say, "Well, it looks like we'll need to buy you a Harley since you sure aren't a whore." I gave him the stink eye. My sister even came to her rescue saying, "I have eye liner tattooed to my eyelids and I'm no whore." My brother backed down and stayed that way. Dick move was called out.

my 7yo nephew:
"Uncle Eric, why do you have a Chinese guy on your back?"
"Uncle Eric, do you have a tattoo on your bum?"
"Uncle Eric, I'm gonna get a tattoo like you. Like a Metal Mulisha tattoo. Or maybe Fox Racing."
...don't worry kiddo, Uncle Eric will set you straight when you're old enough ;)

I really, really don't enjoy being asked to participate in conversations that begin with "so I just bought a tattoo gun online."

Nearly a year ago I moved away from the City to start a new job in quite a small Town in a fairly rural area, there are a few shops around here but most are pretty poor quality and most of the work you see is black and grey "Footballer Sleeves", Tribal and really tacky "girly" tattoo's with little to no Colourful Traditional or Japanese work on show.
Anyway since starting my new job and until last month I've managed to keep my arms covered up by wearing long sleeves, not that I am hiding anything but it's generally how I dress when I work. I also like to keep my private life to myself at work and knuckle down at so getting Tattooed had never really came up in conversation. Recently though the weather has improved a lot so a few weeks ago I went to work with a short sleeve shirt and some of the reactions and questions were priceless.
"Do you keep getting them touched up? My cousin got Tattooed a few weeks ago and the colour has already faded and your Tattoo's are older and still so bright!"
"Those snakes and wolf are they some sort of Hells Angel thing?"
"That Indian Girl on your arm what does she represent?"
Then came the awkward moment when one guy showed me his really shitty tattoo on his leg telling me I should go see his Tattooer and that he would do me a good price If I mentioned him, as usual I politely told him I'd check him out and that his Tattoo's were real nice.

I had visited family I had not seen in about 7 years or so and around that time I did not have any tattoos. It was a bit of a shock to say the least for them and to which my Uncle belted out this gem " You do know that you are not japanese, right?"

A crazy old dude came up to me in the street a few weeks ago, he was pointing out his wrist to me. He had a tattoo on the top of his arm and so do I, so I started showing mine thinking he was looking to talk tattoos. Turns out he was just trying to do the universal signifier for 'do you have the time'.
I guess Decoratedskins say the darndest things too. Haha.

The other day I went to my favorite Chinese restaurant (I'm kind of a regular, the workers usually make small talk with me). I was wearing a dress, and the lady at the front counter approached me and touched on her arm where my butterfly tattoo is and said "Beautifur! Butterfry?" We had a broken English conversation where she asked where it was done and implied a lot of the tattoos she's seen come into the restaurant are pretty bad. Tattoos transcend all languages. :)

rofl. I love this thread.
You guys have had some horrrrrifying experiences, though. I must just be lucky. Maybe it's because I live in the PNW, where people are either a) pretty laid back and progressive or b) too pass-agg to tell you what they think directly...?
The other week I did have someone grab me without asking to look at my arm. It was a little old Japanese man working at the post office. I went in to buy stamps and reached out to pay him, and he grabbed my wrist and said 'let's see what you've got.' First time for everything, I guess.
Mostly, I just get people telling me they really like my tattoos, and asking me where I got them. Sometimes I get asked if they mean anything. The cutest was this weekend at my family reunion, when my cousin reached out to touch the one on my forearm (second one I got, well healed by now) and then yanked her hand back quickly with big eyes and said, 'Oh sorry, does it hurt?'
She is 30. haha. I told her they all cause me perpetual agony and she hit me with her napkin.
...I wasn't sure how my extended family would react to the tattoos -- they are all Talbots people. Boat shoes and sweaters around the neck. It all went better than expected, though! Most of them were just curious. It was kind of nice.

Teenager conversation at the grocery store...
Teenage Girl Cashier: "Like OMG this lady I know, like, she got a tattoo of a cobra snake ON HER CLEAVAGE. Like, OMG, you could see EVERYTHING. I mean, like, she was wearing clothes but OMG, like you could see her tattoo. Why would you get a tattoo so everyone could see it?"
Teenage Bag Boy/Bro: "Yeah, well I heard you can get a tattoo for $100."
Me: "Try double per hour"
TGC: "Well, like, how long did your tattoo take to finish?"
Me: "12 years so far"
TGC: "Like, OMG that is sooo expensive."
Me: "Would you rather be covered in cheap tattoos or nice tattoos?"
TBBB: "Yeah bro, when I'm gonna get my tattoo, like, it's going to be the most expensive tattoo possible."

This is why I have tattoos I can cover. Once I got over my need to please everyone at the ripe age of 30, I realize I dislike probably 2/3rds of people I meet.

When I was feeling extra surly (read: often) and people would comment about how I'd "obviously been in prison with all those tatts" I would tell them
"Yep, beat a guy nearly to death for touching my "tatts" and making asinine judgmental comments"

I was at a cookout recently with a crowd I wouldn't typically be hanging out with, and one of the guys there saw I had tattoos and started talking to me about them. He actually complimented me on them, but then remarked how some coworkers told him that 80% of people with 3 or more tattoos have done time. Hahaha. I found it pretty funny, but stuff like that doesn't typically bother me.
The guy was kind of an ass, but we were ribbing each other all day joking around, so I think it was just his dry sense of humor. You never know with people though. He brought it up again later when the kids were around, and I just responded that I haven't been to prison...yet.

hahahaha that reminds me of my cousin, his first tattoo when he was 14 (also done in some guy's kitchen) and his mom took him b/c he wanted one sooo badly. My brother looked at it and said "jeez, how many Doritos did you have to give the guy for *that*?"

Disgusting, I hate religious zealots!
I Had an older man approach me the other day and asked WHY I did that to my beautiful skin. I told him I had waited my whole life for a beautiful piece and I love it. He then asked about when I get older like 40 and changed my mind.......I answered that I'm 43 and I'm quite able to make permanent life changing decisions. BUT Thanks anyways. It's funny though, that he would feel so uppity about my work since he had been panhandling before I walked up. I also had another man ask me what my tramp stamp said. I said excuse me...1 I'm not a tramp and 2 I don't have any tramp stamps. He answered It might help you get pregnant. :( WTF?
Oh then last night, Hubby and I were getting a beer at a local pub when some skezie guy started talking to me about my work then started stripping to show me all his....He then asked about hourly wages. It didn't bother me since he didn't ask how much it cost. I told him....He said HOLY SHIT! I NEVER pay more than 40 an hour and my guy even does it in my kitchen....I smiled and walked away quickly.

This!
I've also had more than a handful of weirdos say "I'll pray for you" or something similar. This always makes me glad I have several devil tattoos and the wanting for several more.

I was at a wedding too last week, and a grown man, who managed to reach 35 years of age, with a family, asked me if I was working on my backpiece myself. From neck to knees. Full backpiece. Was I tattooing it on myself. I just told him I wasn't flexible enough to do that and left forever.

...I can't believe this thread has been dormant for 6 months.
Last night we went to a wedding. I wore a little black dress with thin straps so the top third of my backpiece showed. I had my hair up. Overall, I got positive reviews or no comments - it was very cool.
However, "Jackass" (as he was come to be called), came up to me at the bar. Picture 60 y/o paunch, light pink button-down, partially untucked - all the guys were all still wearing suit jackets. Partially in the bottle. So he is chatting me up and then sees my tattoo.
Him: Wow, I just saw your art. It seems like the entire back is a "new thing." The first time I saw one was when we took our son to a dude ranch in Texas and a girl had one. It was quite alluring.
Me: ::eesh::
Him: So this was probably more than one session?
Me: Yes, it was two. (Actually, it was 20).
Him: So, how is your Hepatitis C? Is it under control?
Me: Excuse me?
Him: You know, your Hep C. And your Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B?
Me (deadpanned): Everything is under control.
Him: You know, I ask, because you had more than one session, so there was more than one needle. So you have to keep it under control.
Me, (skeeved out and walking away): It's fine.
So I tell my friends, and we all get weirded out. Shudders. So anyway, later in the night, I want to go back to the bar and get a drink for me and the Hubs. But Jackass is there talking with another guy I don't know. But I go up anyway and talk straight to the bartender and order.
Him to buddy: There are a lot of women in those same little black dresses. They must all shop at the same store.
Me: ::Stars straight ahead::
Him (announcing into the air): Well, I guess no one heard that.
Me (walking away with my drinks): I'm sorry, it must be my Hepatitis C showing.
Him: Excuse me?
Me: IT MUST BE MY HEP C SHOWING.
Him (huffed up and offended): I was just being concerned.
?!? Super shudders. Eeeeesh. One of my girlfriends said I should have rubbed my arm over his and "gotten my Hep C all over him." But I was too skeeved out to even consider touching him.
I hate people who play these little word power games. I have to come up with a few more standard answers to assholes. Happily, I did get the chance to smack him back down.

Most people probably don't know you can tattoo over solid black. I didn't, until just now when I read your post, and I'm almost willing to bet that I'm not the only person on this site who didn't know that before you said it.

I get asked about my blackout all the damn time.
"But why would you want to just get the colour black? I mean, did you just run out of ideas?"
"Are you just trying to look dirty?"
My favorite one: "But what happens when you get old? You're just going to have a black leg."
The second I tell them that you can tattoo over it, that spawns a whole new era and stupid questions. Don't even get me started on my ears....

Ooh, I love that book with the blue cover!