Perplexed

I don’t understand the whole tattoo phenomena, I don’t have any and I don’t want any.  I think it exploded into popularity after Pamela Anderson got her barbed wire tattoo when she starred in the 1996 film Barb Wire.  In 2014, she finally came to her senses and had the barbed wire tattoo that wraps around her left bicep removed.  One day when I was visiting my nephew, his friend stopped by to show him a new tattoo that he just got.  This guy was loaded with tattoos and I asked him how many he had and why he had them.  He took his shirt off and his body was covered with colorful ink and he pointed to each of his tattoos.  He told me that this one was worth $600 and that one was worth $400 and altogether they were worth over $3,700.  I corrected him and said, “You mean that you paid over $3,700 to get these tattoos, but since you can’t sell them to anybody, they aren’t worth shit.”

I know that gang tattoos, prison tattoos, Russian mob tattoos and Yakuza tattoos have meanings, representing various achievements that they have accomplished, but I don’t find any of these to be attractive.  I am sure that people have their reasons for getting them, but it all seems so senseless, painful and expensive to me.  They must have meanings, but I could probably find the same reasons in clouds that are floating by and not have to be permanently scarred for seeking reason.  I am going to leave you with the Rolling Stones song ‘No Use In Crying’ from their 1981 album Tattoo You.

Written for Fandango’s Provocative Question #144 which asks, “Do you have any tattoos? What is the meaning or significance of them? If you do have tattoos, do you have any regrets about any of them?”