Plainskins say the darndest things...

[Rightonkaleyross]

I get more dirty looks than dumb questions, I usually enjoy getting questions from "plain-skins" but yes my biggest pet peeve is hearing about what they are going to get one day. Not likely I always think.

[Hogrider]

I get more dirty looks than dumb questions, I usually enjoy getting questions from "plain-skins" but yes my biggest pet peeve is hearing about what they are going to get one day. Not likely I always think.

If everyone that 'was going to' get a tattoo actually got one there would be a severe shortage of tattoo artists in this country!

[hollyjoybee]

Too many to list! Most recently ..

'But you were such a pretty girl Holly' :rolleyes:

and from one of my older ladies who's nails i do

'You're never going to meet an oil baron and skip off happily into the distance now are you dear?'

On the whole i have to say most of the comments i get are pretty positive. In the early days of becoming visibly tattooed I was really conscious of being stared at especially by older women... now though i don't even notice!

[Hogrider]

Too many to list! Most recently ..

'But you were such a pretty girl Holly' :rolleyes:

Just say, "and I remember you before you were a dick."

[irezumi]

It's funny how we get more upset at someone for their reaction to your significant other or family but could really give a shit when it's directed at us.

[Bunny Switchblade]

I really don't like the term "plain skin".....seems derogatory in a way.....

Like we are really that much different.....just because we chose to alter our appearance or something! Anyway.....

I don't even realize I am tattooed anymore.....I always think maybe there is a stain on my shirt or food in my teeth.....LOL! Stares or comments don't bother me much anymore......and yeah you do hear some really strange things come out of peoples mouths BUT I have also heard some of the same things come out of people who are less tattooed than others are too!

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Okay....funny story....maybe a little off topic though....

I had a girl I was dating come to visit me several years ago.....she was moderately tattooed! She told me at the airport she was sitting there and everyone seemed to be staring in her direction.....in fact so much so that she was seriously thinking about asking why everyone was staring at her so much....."Haven't you seen a tattooed woman before???"....is what she was thinking!

Then she realized........she was sitting under the Television......LMFAO!

[irezumi]

I really don't like the term "plain skin".....seems derogatory in a way.....

Like we are really that much different.....just because we chose to alter our appearance or something!

Agreed!

I don't even realize I am tattooed anymore.....I always think maybe there is a stain on my shirt or food in my teeth.

So that's not just me? I forget it all the time too.

[Faolan]

my boyfriend who is somehow not tattooed by now, said this when i told him it would be a few more months until i got my next tattoo and we had to be careful to avoid some part of me "this is ridiculous, you're already 2 to 0 with me, i need to go and get mine done before you get your next one."

Also, my grandparents live abroad so they had no idea i had gotten a tat until they came over for dinner on a visit. my immediate family and they were sitting together in the living room and my sister was talking about my dads tattoos, he's covered, and my grandpa said in the politest way possible "I'm glad your father is the only one in the family to have tattoos." this was met with a silent moment of everyone (mom, dad, siblings, and myself) looking at each other and immediately followed by everyone rolling around and laughing. Then we told them i had a tattoo which they complimented after i showed them.

Also i think plainskin could be derogatory, but i like it anyways. to me it really expresses the early days of modern tattoos and those who got them when it was way more taboo. I might use it as a derogatory term for someone who was being rude and self righteous or something about my tats, but to say that about someone who is respectful of tattoos and tattooed people sounds wrong.

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Yea I've only gotten that one recently, but I can say it does "feel funny". It feels funny to watch someone touching your tattoos in amazement haha

When i read to them my brother and sister love to trace mine, it tickles so much but they love it. In my experience when it comes to appreciating tattoos kids really know how to do it.

[TrixieFaux]

I really don't like the term "plain skin".....seems derogatory in a way.....

Like we are really that much different.....just because we chose to alter our appearance or something! Anyway.....

Right, it was just used in the thread title lightly, as a joke. I don't actually call anyone that in person...

Although, on an Australian morning show, the untattooed woman speaking about tattoos on women being a mistake, referred to herself as a "cleanskin". I guess that would make us....dirty. ;)

Anyway, funny story about the tv!

[Breakme]

Right, it was just used in the thread title lightly, as a joke. I don't actually call anyone that in person...

Although, on an Australian morning show, the untattooed woman speaking about tattoos on women being a mistake, referred to herself as a "cleanskin". I guess that would make us....dirty. ;)

Anyway, funny story about the tv!

So odd she would call herself a cleanskin. In aussie, cleanskin is a term for wine which doesn't have the winemakers name on the label and is generally sold a lot cheaper. I guess she's calling herself cheap! Ha!

[Mick Weder]

Talking about clean skins, having breakfast ciders with a mate the other morning and he mentioned he scored a case of Korean clean skin full strength beer from 1st choice recently for $27. I'll have to sus it.

Shopping for cheap alcoholic beverages is a hobby of mine.

[Breakme]

Talking about clean skins, having breakfast ciders with a mate the other morning and he mentioned he scored a case of Korean clean skin full strength beer from 1st choice recently for $27. I'll have to sus it.

Shopping for cheap alcoholic beverages is a hobby of mine.

That sounds like a bargain. If you like drinking bubbly wine Dan Murphy's sells a cleanskin bubbles which works out to be around $6 a bottle if you buy a case. It's really good.

[Mick Weder]

I faaarkin love Danos. My local is the size of an aircraft hanger. I'm like a kid in a lollie shop. Walk in planning to buy a standard case of ale, walk out loaded with a trolley load.

Getting back on topic but :), yeah! I'll have to sus more of these clean skins.

[bongsau]

"Tattoos are an addiction eh?"

Tattoos make me happy, so very happy! And yknow what? So does ice cream. And I bet basketball makes other people happy. Motorcycles make people happy.

"LIKE OMG BASKETBALL IS AN ADDICTION EH?"

"YOU MUST BE ADDICTED TO MOTORCYCLES."

"MY NAME IS ERIC AND I HAVE AN ADDICTION TO ICE CREAM."

You see? It's just a tattoo, not heroin for Christ sake!

[tatB]

"Tattoos are an addiction eh?"

This is the worst. I hate it. So much negativity associated with the word addiction.

Tattoos have been nothing but positive for me. A bit of traveling, cool and intelligent people, and I take better care of myself now because I want my tattoos to look good for as long as possible. Only negative is I spend too much time looking at instagram.

[polliwog]

I've gotten the addiction one a lot lately, and I feel like I'm moving at a pretty slow pace compared to lots of people here. I just tell people that I think tattoos look better together.

[Old Rose Tattoo]

I get some random things said to me about my tattoos. One thing that really drives me nuts, more so than the "plainskins" term, and more than a "tattoo gun" ( Im a tattooer so that really urks me), is when someone calls a tattoo a "tat".

I usually have a thermal under my T-shirt so my tattoos arent shown very often, but when a little bit poke out of my shirt I get the "wow you have tats?" or " can I see your tats?" that really bugs me.

As far as the typical meaning questions, people are shocked with my answers. I tell them most of the tattoos are just because I like it, or one in particular I got it because "Im NOT supposed to like it" I have a hello kitty day of the dead. I am a guy I am straight, but I got it because "Only girls like hello kitty" I dont always go with the grain of life hahahaa

[smiling.politely]

"Tattoos are not an addiction; they are a collection. A tattoo collector is just like a conventional art collector who buys a painting, hangs it on the wall, and then moves on to acquire the next, unique piece. Tattoo collecting is a spiritual pursuit, while addiction is a physiological need. Addicts repeatedly take the same drug over and over without limit. A tattoo collection has variety, and it has an end. Once you collect the whole set, you're done."

-Horiyoshi III

Side note: I also have a Hello Kitty. It was done by my fiancée, is about an inch and a half wide, and took her about an hour. It's just lines, aside from color in the bow and nose. She was really trying.

[SeeSea]

...and I take better care of myself now because I want my tattoos to look good for as long as possible.

Getting a big tattoo has really changed my view of my skin health. I've got several bottles of good quality SPF 50 everywhere and several UV 50 shirts, 2 UV hoodies and coverup. And now that I am thinking thigh, I've found myself slathering lotion over other parts of my body in preparation for possible new tattoos! (You know, because it's an addiction and all...) No, I'm excited to wear my tattoos!

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I get the standard "does it hurt" and "how much is it costing" and I have no idea why people think it wouldn't hurt. Are they assessing your degree of masochism? Secretly thinking you deserve it? (Rhetorical...)

I was on a diving vacation a couple weeks ago and there were three distinct responses. We were diving with the same group of 13 on the same small boat. I wore a rash guard all the time and no one saw the tattoo until the 2nd or 3rd day, so people got to know me as a person. A nice couple our age who'd traveled the world teaching English were so interested and curious (we were diving, my back is an in-progress montage of underwater photographs I've taken) and we talked about the different critters and how a tattoo like this progress. Very nice and completely accepting. They have no tattoos. There was another group, three of whom had small tattoos, and they either didn't say anything and treated me the same - one told me a guy she knew was getting a full suit and was to be featured in a book. She was cool and open.

The other group was a family who initially was friendly to me. The dad and I are in the same profession and somewhat muckity-mucks. I could possibly have been a useful contact to him. Then when I showed up at the (inside) tiki bar wearing only a bikini and showing my tattoo off the first (and only) time, the father came around the back of me to look at the chalkboard menu above the bar where I was sitting. My husband told me he stood there for a good 5 minutes staring at my back while pretending to read the menu. After that, they didn't talk to me for a couple days, but a couple of them (including the dad) warmed up to me somewhat after being stuck on a small boat together and having to realize I was a real person.

Interesting to see the reactions.

[Colored Guy]

I get some random things said to me about my tattoos. One thing that really drives me nuts, more so than the "plainskins" term, and more than a "tattoo gun" ( Im a tattooer so that really urks me), is when someone calls a tattoo a "tat".

I usually have a thermal under my T-shirt so my tattoos arent shown very often, but when a little bit poke out of my shirt I get the "wow you have tats?" or " can I see your tats?" that really bugs me.

As far as the typical meaning questions, people are shocked with my answers. I tell them most of the tattoos are just because I like it, or one in particular I got it because "Im NOT supposed to like it" I have a hello kitty day of the dead. I am a guy I am straight, but I got it because "Only girls like hello kitty" I dont always go with the grain of life hahahaa

When someone asks about my tats... if its a female I ask about her tits... isn't that what you said dear?

[Mick Weder]

Nothing wrong with a little tit for tat mate.

[Euchlid]

I've gotten "Do they still hurt?"……. to which I am not so sure what my response should be.

Haha. The questions I get from plain skins are usually "what about when you get older?", "What do your parents think?", "What do they mean", and so on.

Usually well meaning questions, so even if it's annoying, being a dink accomplishes nothing. My responses in order are usually, "Nope, they stop hurting when they're healed", "when I'm older I hope they will distract people from my slowly decaying body", "My parents support me in all my life endeavours", " some of them have meaning attached, but for the most part, I just find them aesthetically pleasing".

I also have an arbitrary dislike for people calling them "tats" and "ink". but that is just my opinion.

[joakim urma]

It's been true summer for a week now in Stockholm and I've been in t-shirt and shorts most of the time. I am starting to grow tired of talking about tattoos with people with no tattoos/really bad tattoos. I think during this time I have talked about tattoos with most people that I work with, many of my friends (that I do really love by the way) and a few random folks. And I don't see the point… or rather, it gets very tiring. Maybe because many people don't know jack about tattooing, only from what they have seen on tv and they ask you the most rude and stupid questions. And then proceed to show you some horrible work on "a buddy" by making you browse this persons instagram feed.

Normally I am a very polite and patient guy but after a week of this.. I don't really think I care about talking tattoos with people who are not deeply into it. I feel like an elitist for saying this but, I guess right now, that's me. I think one of the problems has to do with how tattooing became a mainstream and "cool" thing. Much like skateboarding right about that time when Adidas and Nike decided there was money to be made. Skateboarders used to be the weird smelly kids, the outcasts of the school. It used to be something the general public had no understanding for. I wrote this to a friend recently who thought that my skateboarding hobby was cool

"I don't think skateboarding is so cool, obectivly speaking. Same with tattoos. Or, I don't want it to be cool and hyped and a lot of attention and money into it. I prefer when things are underground, wierd/repulsive to the general public and only cool to the people involved and active. Outsiders and tourists destroy everything genuine (especially as soon as money is involved) It's cultural gentrification."

/End of angry rant. Back to trying to be a nice person and talk reasonable and in a friendly tone to people who wants to talk tattoos with me. Shit, I did not get these to be a conversation piece. One of the rudest things that I've had to respond to in a number of occasions is about the cost of tattoos.. like "Woow, dude that's a lot of money on your legs right there!". Few people would talk about the cost of the paintings on the walls of a friends place the first time they get invited over for dinner, am I right?

ps. I am a really nice guy in real life

[idyllsend]

I work in a factory and have to wear my hair up in a hairnet, so my half lasered neck tattoo is always visible. We have a busy season, so every year we get a bunch of new temps, and every year at least once I hear "oh I love that blue rose on your neck."

First off, it wasn't a blue rose to begin with, it was waves, and second off, it's just a blue blob now.

I also sometimes hear weird stuff from people with tattoos. Shit tattoos, mind you. I get the "does it hurt" question for certain areas, and I had unwarranted advice from a coworker not to wait 14 months to start my back piece cause I "might change my mind." This coming from a guy who price shopped his sleeve...

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[SeeSea]

Re: cost.

Almost everyone has asked me this question and very few people know I am working on a full back. It makes me uncomfortable, even from friends, and I don't have a pat answer yet. But the other day, without even thinking, I replied, "Yeah, it's more expensive than going to the movies." For some reason, that shut down the question with a little laugh from both of us, but in a way that it was clear I wasn't going to share, conversation was over, without being rude or making them feel like a jerk for asking (my friends, after all). Not sure I can explain that, but it was a positive thing and I think I'll try that one again.