Should I get a tattoo?

I would have thought you were in the ideal position regarding tatoos Peter. All you have to do is wait until a client arrives on your table with a pleasing piccy, remove it delicately with a fresh scalpel and Evostik it in the desirable place. Voila! You can remove it at will with some solvent. In fact you could start collecting them!

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A mis typed word is not tacky, just a little careless. A tattoo is tacky beyond all belief. Get a tattoo and have fun with it. You'll look daft when you're sixty.

All tattoos are not tacky beyond belief, some certainly are. Being narrow minded and opionated isnt tacky either, its just a sign of immmaturity.

Now that is giving me ideas!!!

I've already been warned by a friend to think carefully about one initial I might use....

My father in law was in the Regulars and has tattoo on his arms. To me I just think they are something he had done when he was 17. The fact is my father in law is now over 70 and the tatts dont look daft at all. :) iceman

Faster than snakes... I realise that if I got a tattoo, it might look rubbish when I'm older. But really, *what* is the point in not doing something just because you might regret it when you're 85? You wouldn't live. If it looks good for 67 years, I don't really care what I think then, considering that I will look generally rubbish anyway and might not even be alive. And it's not as if I'd get a tattoo anywhere that couldn't be covered. Liana... can you really get semi-permanent tattoos? I heard that but then somebody told me that it wasn't true or possible and that tattoos are permanent full-stop, unless you get those ones that peel off in a week. Gail... tattoo removal on the NHS? does that happen? I agree that if it does it's resentable, but... surely not... I think you're all right. It would be stupid to get a tattoo unless I was really really sure. I guess the answer to my question is not to get one done, but to sort out why I thought of having one in the first place and try to be happy with the way I am... I just get so bored of the way I look and want to be interesting. But that's not a good reason. hmm.

Can I ask why your asking us? If you need persuading then you shouldnt as its something you cant have any doubt about. Like getting a kid only more permanent... Many people say youll look daft with a tattoo when you get older... I say, if your old enough to look daft with a tattoo your already dead. By the time you get to that age life is really just going through the motions, if your older than about 40 or 50 then dont get a tatt, top yourself. For all those that age or older who read this... you have my sympathy, but now you know what to do.

Yes A Korean orchid. Ralph

Maybe to celebrate my 41st birthday I should get a tattoo. iceman

U should get a pair of umbrellas tattooed on your cheeks so when U cry, it looks like it's raining. Just a thought...

I thought about getting a tatt but I am too scared to risk it. I have no idea what sort of tatt to get either. I think its important to have a tatt that represents YOU rather than what you think might be good after looking through some magazines. iceman

Yeah - was thinking about an interlaced design with the initial letters of my partner and kids interweaved, placed between my shoulder blades. Scaary!

all of my tattoos mean something to me... we were talking about this on a thread a while ago.. its an important thing to consider..

I was once told about someone who had "love" tattoed on on hand (each finger) and "hate" on the other hand's fingers. He then lost a finger in an accident and it became "Love" and "Hat".

You really can get five year ones, Em. Not quite sure how they work, but they do, apparently.

Lots of people get that Love Hate thing to imitate Robert Mitchum's character in Night of the Hunter. I would never get one myself. I just don't see the appeal.

I think getting a tatt is a mark of individuality. iceman

Yes, get one Peter! I started a similar thread a while ago. Got the tattoo, and if it wasn't for the wrath of my dad, I'd get another one. (I'll wait til I leave home, then get it heheheheh)

I think you take out a five year lease.

Ooooh! I wanted to ask this very question. I'm thinking of getting a band of ivy like an anklet... only trouble is, my granny was called Ivy so it might just make me think of her, and I don't want to look like Eve. I don't know if it would suit me, I'm not really a tattoo person, but I think that might be nice. Scares me how permanent they are though. Might not look so cool when you reach 80. I get so bored of plain skin. It's so dull.

the Coldstream Guards and Marine display teams can be hired Peter. you will have to organise a parade ground or large field, some refreshment marquees and tiered seating for spectators. st. john's, i think, are free but the bastard police will charge you for the hire of officers who stand around all day drinking tea and smiling at old ladies. Don't worry about trouble though. the first sign of it and they will be nowhere to be found. Then there are the portaloos, tacky souvenir stands "GET YER FREE CORPSE HERE", hot dog purveyors of salmanella, and the inevitable recruitment stands. get it right and it could turn into a nice family day out.

OK folks, you've convinced me!! Seriously, I've wanted one done for years, but never got up the courage - stupid really. As it is, I've got a pattern sorted, and the deed will be done on Monday. Was hoping for today (Tuesday), but they've had to postpone it. There's a poem in all this, somewhere...

I would say 'No' if you need talking into it, then it's probably something you're going to regret later. I regret mine Even though they are beautiful scenes of nature done by a wonderful artist. At one place where I worked the OT's wore white tunics, They had to change the uniform to thicker green ones because my back-tattoo showed through and did indeed look tacky. What might look 'cool' in a club situation didn't look so good when it came to being professional. Luckily there were only two of us on the unit so it wasn't such a big deal, but it still caused me a lot of embarrassment.Also it's something I seemed to have passed down. My eldest son has his entire back chest and upper arms done in tribal. He's got an angel up his lower leg (His famous chat up line is "I've got a picture of you, want to see it?") his look really good and it was his choice, but again it's caused problems for him in his career. He's an apprentice chef, but the course he's doing demands full hotel management training as well as kitchen. When he's front of house he has to wear a thin white shirt and tie His tatt (he only has one on his torso but it covers most of it) has caused some remarks from his bosses. He's training at the Lakeside Hotel one of the best hotels in the country, they frown upon staff who look better suited to bar-room bouncers! But at the end of the day. I got mine while of reasonalby sound mind, it's something I've got and I never really give them much consideration one way or the other.

Tattos are very tackey! Everyone thinks they are being individual by getting some meaningless celtic style band or japanese symbol pushed under their skin. I knew someone that got an eagle tattoed on his forearm but sadly it came out a lot like a budgie! It's dreadful! I knew someone that got a yearning for a dolphin on her arm... It's more like a dead tuna. Don't do it! Tattoo removal is now a big business due to all the failures and 'thought it was a good idea at the time' people. Big mistake!

oh for goodness sake faster than snakes... Emily, tattoos can now be done as 5 year semi permanents, if you are not sure... make certain that you go to a reputable tattooist, one whose work you admire. Check that they do bookings... any tattooist that does a *sit down and wait* system is bound to be shite... dont do a band of anything though... as i said on a previous thread, the celtic bands, etc are almost like having a pair of flares tattooed on your skin.. in ten years they will be extremely dating. have a look on a few sites, see if there is anything that inspires you. Oh, and faster than snakes... spelling "tackey" that way is far tackier than a tattoo dear...

Emily, I got a tattoo about a month ago (gawd, has it been that long already?). I spent ages (years in fact) debating over where, what and when to get it, and finally settled on the kanji symbol for heart, spirit and mind. It probably doesn't sound very personal, but I chose it because the meaning felt very significant to me. I am tempted to get another one, but I think it could turn into a bit of a fetish if I'm not careful. Same as piercings, in fact! I'm still debating over a new piercing.

I resent having to pay for people getting their tattoos removed on the NHS while others are waiting months and months for operations which they desperately need. Just doesn't seem right to me.

Tattoo Peter? Why the devil not, after all it's your body to do with as you please. they certainly don't have the stigma they once had, and if it's something you want to do, well there's no reason not to do it...

There's a really easy answer to this. If there's an image that means so much to you that simply having a picture of it isn't enough then get a tattoo. Otherwise, don't. The idea of getting a tattoo because you'd like one rather than having something very important to carry around with you for life is silly. If there's something nice you want then buy it, get a print of it etc. To illustrate my point, I have a tattoo on my arm of two teaspoons, I drew it myself. I spent some of the happiest days of my life in a group of people called, "The Spoons". Some of us had tattoos, some didn't, it was down to the individual as we broke up before it was done. I did it because I knew that, as I grew older, the weight of everyday life and mortgages and work would change me from the happy go lucky fool I was into a serious person. I had a tattoo to stop me doing that. I look at it every now and again and it keeps me focussed on the person I've left behind and stops me becoming a suburban, retirement worshipping, faceless nobody. I need that otherwise I'd get caught up in today and forget about why I'm working and paying a mortgage in the first place. My point is that I was able to see myself in the future and put something permanent in place that would keep me in check. It's like a "get out of monotany free" card so it's doing it's job. If I had a picture of an idol, or a girlfriend's name then it might backfire when I'm eighty. With this I'll be looking at it and smiling and feeling happy about who I am.

Yes, I would definitely not recommend having any names about your person!

Hey guys, Been reading over your debate. I had a semi-permanent tattoo done about 5 monthe ago at the bottom of my back. It's a really unusual design that I chose because I liked it. The ink they use starts to evaporate after so many years depending on your skins natural activity, and it doesn't go as deep into your epidermis as permanent tattoos. I love my tattoo. The only draw back is, it defnitley isn't as dark as permanent tattoos but it still looks black. If I love it still in years to come then I can always get it done again, and even with permanent ink. And, by the time i might want to get it removed completely think of all the developmwents there would have been to remove tattoos. Hope this has helped some of you. you only live once and get it done somewhere that you don't show off very often and you can cover it up when you need to.