Can't trust a skinny chef, I am not heavily tattooed and when I did get a shot at a good shop it was the first thing they brought up. They are absolutely right! I know of a couple of artists that are amazing artists, but have never been tattooed before picking up a tattoo machine, why don't they just oil paint or do something else. I have always been fascinated with tattoos as a kid. I would make homemade tattoo spinners, did some letters on my stomach, and later got tattooed at shops just twice pre-tattooing. I thought of those guys as some of the coolest mofos out there! I have always liked the look and the people, I wanted to be part of that community but didn't know how. I knew to be heavily tattooed you have to have a skill, a career because people still judge and will close doors on how you look. So to be heavily tattooed and thinking of a career as a kid was out of the question. I wasn't exposed to good tattoos, and then the only mags were Flash and International, and the homeboys I hung around with had the majority their tattoos done in prison. So I was and am not in a rush to get tattooed, I have a whole arm of patches some good tattoos and some not so great, my left arm is almost completely clean, and just now I finally know what I want to get. It's lame I know, but I understand. It's no excuse, but a friend told me once you have your whole lifetime to get tattooed, take it easy. I have a couple tattoos I regret, but that's life and I love those tattoos because of that. At one point in your life you thought that was cool. But I DO WANT TO SAVE ROOM FOR TATTOOS I REALLY WANT!! And barely I'm getting to know of some tattooers I really want work from them. ( Setted up an appointment with Casey Corlic, backpiece Kirin. Backed down because of a tattoo infection I had at the time. ) If it's a guy whose barley starting off and has a few tattoos its cool, they want to be part of the community, and eventually will be covered. Thats part of the whole adventure! But if its a kid who has no tattoos at all, and is tattooing or wants to tattoo that's LAME! I'm glad to be in this community but you have to give back and not just take. And if I had a little more money I would be getting tattooed every other week.