Everyday life experiences

[UglyButProud]

Another time, I was at a close friend's birthday for her 2 year old daughter. I was probably the only single person there, the only visibly tattooed person there and I have long hair and a beard. I definitely stood apart and one of the kids there noticed my tattoos. You could tell she was really curious, staring and smiling, and wanted to look closer. The problem was while I knew 80% of the people there, I hadn't met this particular child's parents so unfortunately my internal alarms went off and I went into self preservation defense mode and had to disengage. The little girl's curiosity was cool but it kind of sucked I felt that way and felt the need to do that. They could have been cool with it, but you never know how parents can be when it comes to their child and they are just trying to look out for their kids. I guess I'm keenly aware these days I'm not as inconspicuous as others and I've never been good with babies and children to begin with.

The situations when being around kids are the hardest. I was almost always shunned by other parents in every situation involving my kids and social interaction. It always took a while for other parents to get to know me before they stopped rushing in to rescue their kids from the "weird tattooed guy". Although I had tattoos for 10-12 years before my kids were born, it still took me some time to adjust to strong/negative reactions I got from other parents.

The strangest thing anyone has ever said to me regarding tattoos was "you must be so sad every day that you ruined your life with all those tattoos"....... my reply was a surly, "yes, I asked our lord and savior to forgive me everyday, please pray for my soul" as she was clearly a religious kook...

Even though I'm not from a small town, it was still rough in the late 80's, early 90's having a lot of tattoos. Rough as far as stares/comments and general disdain for "my kind".. I was a delivery driver for a beverage company for many years and my company thought it was a great idea to send the 6'3" long haired tattoo guy to all the worst, inner city stops they had. Their reasoning was "he won't upset the upscale store owners and who will mess with him in the bad areas?" It suited my personality, so it didn't take long to adapt. I think the people in the inner city areas were baffled by my tattoos but pretty quick to accept me as they knew what it was like to be outcast too...

At one point, I got so sick of answering the same 3-4 questions I got asked 1000x a day, I had business cards made to give to people instead of having the same exhausting discussion over and over. They said:

TATTOOS....YOU BET!!!

a: Yes, they're real !!!

a:Yes, they're permanent !!!

a:Yes, it hurt !!!

a: No, I don't regret a single one !!!

The back of the card had a rant about "if the card didn't answer all your questions, see a reputable tattoo shop near you" and the quote "the only difference between tattooed people and non- tattooed people is tattooed people don't care if YOU have tattoos or not"

Anyway, I don't get as much attention now-a-days now that plenty of younger people have hands/feet/necks/faces tattooed and every pop star and NBA player is fully tattooed!

[MarvelAvengers]

I went the superhero route not only because I like comics, but I felt that while some people be be anti-tattoo, how can you not like superheros. Typically if I'm wearing a tank top showing tattoos, it will be accompanied by superhero themed clothing along with my 2 young sons also wearing superhero themed clothes. I guess in my mind I feel more like a nerd than a thug. My last outing was at a 5K with the family and I had several people ask me about the tattoo and wanted to take pictures.

[Cork]

interesting

he was quick to inform me that he had become pretty conservative and felt strongly and negatively about tattoos and people getting tattoos

Did you inform that you have become pretty anti-conservative and you think negatively for people with preconceived notions?

[marley mission]

Did you inform that you have become pretty anti-conservative and you think negatively for people with preconceived notions?

ya know what it is

i'm pretty mellow with people i like

and he's earned that from knowing me for over 20 years

he's a good guy in many ways

i was disappointed though

especially since he brought it up

when he didnt have to

and it 'unstoked' me a bit about hooking up

meh

[purplelace]

Today one of co-workers and head of dept during one of breaks noticed me wincing a bit as sat down, they asked was I sore. I laughed and, said a bit tender yeah. We ended up having a 10 min chat about tattoos and how many more got planned. Neither of them like them personally, but they also don't care if people get tattooed or not. Really good chat with them, not first time talked about tattoos with them or other co-workers or even one of my bosses. All have said that I've changed their mind about heavily tattooed people. Which makes me smile. One of them said that her hubby rolls eyes and asks if daughter got another tattoo when he sees her. I laugh and ask what would he make of me? She just said, don't go there! Made me laugh.

People in work are great, some of them ask what got done recently and ask to see pics. Just stupid no-tattoo rule stops me from showing them off when working. Doesn't stop me pulling up my jean leg to show them when they ask to see healed tattoo. Just can't walk around showing them off. Yeah I know, logic right? lol

[Hogrider]

I got my leg tattoo a week ago and have only received one comment from a guy in a bicycle shop asking me where I got it done. He was very friendly and down to earth.

I did receive a strange look from a 4 year old today, but I'm not sure if it was related to my tattoo or not. It's a neighbor and I was taking my 2 year old on a walk.

I get a lot of stares from kids. Sometimes they just look, sometimes they smile.

[Beans]

The city does a "lunch in the park" here in Missoula every Wednesday. Live bands, tons of food vendors etc. Yesterday was the first one of the season, so I went by myself, found a nice picnic bench to eat at and observe everyone walking by. There was still 8 or 9 free benches left, so I sat comfortably believing I was insulated abit and surely no one would interrupt my loner time. When 3 conseritive women in their 50's come up and announce that they are my new friends. Yay, I'm friendly enough and it was ok, but most of the lunch they chatted with me and to eachother about tattoos. Ugh, it did get kind of weird after a bit so I chucked my Pad Thai and moved on.

[pidjones]

So far, I've had no real problems, but I'm 62 and have only had tattoos (now at 4 - will turning one on my left shoulder into a half-sleeve count as only one more?) I'm really not worried about it, and tend not to take myself too seriously. Been on the beach this week. No stares, comments, etc.

[GlaryMilberg]

I work with unhoused individuals, an overlapping population. I never know what type of response our participants will have but most of them get pumped when I wear short sleeves. Some of our participants will share their legendary single needle body suits from prison with me. I'll have to post some soon. @Synesthesia

I was standing in line last month at 7-11 , in typical formal wear for city meetings and the kid in front of me was talking to a stranger about his severely infected tattoo. I usually don't butt into conversation but the random dude in line tried advising him to put all types of weird shit on it. I quietly advised him on what he should do to finish the heal. They looked at me like I was from outer space. I pulled up my pant to show him a tattoo I was healing (4 days in) with the method suggested and both of them tripped out, yelling to their friends across the 7-11 and getting rowdy looking at them. When I turned around I overheard them talking about their off assumptions of me and my unsolicited advice. Ended up asking me a ton of questions.

Anyway, I enjoy being able to undercover just as much as I love wearing shorts and short sleeves.

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[rufio]

The city does a "lunch in the park" here in Missoula every Wednesday. Live bands, tons of food vendors etc. Yesterday was the first one of the season, so I went by myself, found a nice picnic bench to eat at and observe everyone walking by. There was still 8 or 9 free benches left, so I sat comfortably believing I was insulated abit and surely no one would interrupt my loner time. When 3 conseritive women in their 50's come up and announce that they are my new friends. Yay, I'm friendly enough and it was ok, but most of the lunch they chatted with me and to eachother about tattoos. Ugh, it did get kind of weird after a bit so I chucked my Pad Thai and moved on.

Maybe they wanted more than just friendly talk if you know what i mean ;)

[Bmore]

Some of these stories reminded me of the comment my grandfather made when I got my most recent tattoo.

He said, "You know I don't really like tattoos, at all, but that's really cool." I think one of the ways he described it was "mean looking" haha. Pretty high praise.

As far as work related experiences go, I'm typically in business attire so they're all covered. Everyone knows I have them, and on 'casual Friday' they're on display. No real problems, and I've actually had a pretty good conversation with one coworker who is interested in getting tattooed. My supervisor, who I like, tends to cross the line with the touchy feely routine though. And the head honcho did once make a snide remark about how "laser removal was going to become a big business now."

Other than that, I haven't had much interaction when I'm out and about aside from the standard "that's cool" or "where'd you get that done".

[Colored Guy]

Maybe they wanted more than just friendly talk if you know what i mean ;)

My luck should run that good.. but I do attract some lively ladies in the gym, too bad they're all over 75...

[Synesthesia]

I work with unhoused individuals, an overlapping population. I never know what type of response our participants will have but most of them get pumped when I wear short sleeves. Some of our participants will share their legendary single needle body suits from prison with me. I'll have to post some soon. @Synesthesia

Cool! Yeah, it seems like it's something that makes you a little more relatable to the clients, sometimes people think the workers are stuffy and not like them at all. Tattoos are always a conversation starter.

I think the people closest to me are starting to realize that tattooed me is way more confident and happy than the non-tattooed me ever was. They still shake their heads in mild disapproval, but I don't get nearly the amount of grief I used to.

[GlaryMilberg]

Haha most definitely

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