TATTOOS

Nuggets For The Noggin

TATTOOS

By Jim “Gymbeaux” Brown, May 28, 2013

There is no doubt in my mind that this Nugget is going to upset more than just a few people who might read it.  It is an “opinion” piece and represents my opinion on the subject.  So as you read it keep this thought in mind.  Just as it is your right to choose to obtain a tattoo it is my right to form an opinion regarding that choice.  Somebody has to say this!

Over the weekend I could not help but notice this extremely attractive young girl.  Without getting very close I could also not help but notice that one arm and one shoulder was completely covered with unidentifiable tattoos.

My first thought was in the form of a question:  WHY?  Why would anyone so attractive feel compelled to mark up her body with what I thought were very unattractive and indistinguishable tattoos that some want to call “art” but not me.

Okay, I’ll admit it; I am getting much older and am very much set in my ways of life.  Nonetheless I fail to understand the onslaught of tattoos in America and probably the world.  I have many questions regarding tattoos.

• Do people really think tattoos enhance their appearance and if so, to whom?
• What appears to be an attractive tattoo now, will it appear to be as attractive as you get older? 
• Why do so many grossly overweight women (more so than overweight men) have tattoos?  Do they think that the tattoo will make them look attractive or that the tattoo will somehow camouflage their obesity? 
• Do the people who obtain tattoos realize that the craze started and flourished in prisons? 
•  Do the people who obtain tattoos realize that by having tattoos they may be adversely affecting their ability to be hired for a career position they desire? 
• Do the people who obtain tattoos realize that they are affiliating themselves with prisoners and/or gang members?

Let me put this into perspective.  If you are in sales, the first sale you make to a probable customer is YOU to THEM.  Does the customer feel comfortable in working with you?  If not, you probably will not make the sale.  In some sales professions the customer may not have a choice in who sells them something but in most cases they do.  When that happens the probable customer simply goes elsewhere to purchase the same product or service.

“But it is important for me to be me” you might say.  That is your absolute right to say and feel that way.  It is also the customer’s right to object to the manor by which you demonstrate that right.  It may convert to a lost sale and ultimately lost income.  So you have to weigh the difference between being you and measuring up to what your probable customer expects and/or desires of you – the sales person.  The choice is truly yours to make so my recommendation would be to choose wisely.

I would suspect that some folks get tattooed because of “conformity”; they want to be like their peers.  Again, which peers do you want to be “like”?  Your friends, prisoners or gang members?  Remember, tattoos in prison and in gangs are the “signs” that prisoners and/or gang members want to advertise.  Is that you intention?  You want to advertise something?  My recommendation to this type of thinking would be to be very careful what you advertise for because you may just get it or something entirely different.

Celebrities and sports figures all have tattoos; why not me?  First, they “all” don’t have them.  Granted a lot do.  Here is what is important, most of these people make enough money to be relatively financially independent and can therefore afford to do what they please.  But even these folks run the risk of having their fan base be turned off by their activities whether it is tattoos, drugs, etc.

Here is a thought to ponder.  I cannot see or experience your wonderful personality and character because the tattoos on your body scream much louder than the kindness in your heart.  People make initial judgments about you and about me based entirely upon their first visual encounter.  Is that the right thing to do?  Of course not but that is a fact of life.  With that said, why would anyone go to such measures as the expense and pain of obtaining what appears to be permanent magic marker artwork on their bodies, artwork that again indicates a relationship to gangs and/or prisoners or to small children who do not know any better.

I don’t think I am alone when I say, I just don’t understand.  What is worse, I can’t think of any logical, with the emphasis on the word logical, argument that someone could put forth that would change my mind.

So with that said, be it right or be it wrong, if you want me to buy something from you or to hire you, it just isn’t going to happen IF I have a choice.  Just as you have a choice to do what you do, I have a choice to do what I do.  Before you decide to mark up your body with tattoos, think about the unintended consequences of doing so both in the present and in the future.