Tattoos, Tattoos, and More Tattoos

Have you ever noticed the number of people sporting tattoos these days? You see them on athletes, young women, men, military personnel, bikers, construction workers, just about every walk of life. They put them on all parts of the body, arms, legs, ankles, lower back, abdomen, every place you can think of.

In my un-scientific observation it appears that women are wearing tattoos more. Maybe I just spend more time looking at women instead of men. Even little children get these temporary tattoos and practice wearing tattoos before they are able to have a permanent tattoo. Tattoos have been around a long time. Mummies have been found with tattoos and the practice goes even farther back. It appears that the popularity is on the increase in this time of history.

When I was young, there were tattoos around, but they did not seem as popular as they are now. Tattoos appeared to be limited to people you may classify as undesirable, bikers, gang members, and the type of person you hoped your daughter or son never brought home. I remember when I was in high school this bully came to school with a tattoo on his arm. He was really proud of it. However, a couple of days later his great tattoo became infected. What an ugly pus-infected drooling mess. He survived, but it really created some discomfort for him. Maybe seeing that infected mess convinced me that a tattoo was not worth the risk. I was in the army and tattoos were not that prevalent at that time in the army. Of course you always hear about navy personnel and their tattoo's.

I have seen tattoo's for your favorite sports teams, Broncos, Rockies, and Nuggets. Religious symbols are popular, praying hands, crucifixes, Guadalupe and many more. My stepson has one of his family crest. My son-in-law has a tattoo with his daughters and sons names. In my life I have seen some strange tattoos. For example, I was standing in line one day at Target and this young woman was standing behind me and I noticed her tattoo just below her belly button (that is another fad these days, to bare your midsection). In nice inscripted lettering she had the word "playground" with an arrow pointing down. I wonder how she will feel about that in 20-30 years from now. A few years ago I saw the top of the Harley-Davidson logo on the lower back of a nice looking woman. Does she receive an advertising allowance from Harley-Davidson? A woman had a tattoo of a frog sitting on a mushroom on the upper part of her breast. I guess she had a thing for frogs. These are a few I remember without much difficulty.

What is the attraction to mark up your body with a tattoo? I asked people around me and the most common response was "I just wanted a tattoo" One said, "I was drunk and got the tattoo. Another response was "everyone has a tattoo." From the responses I feel that I didn't really get the true reason they got their tattoo's and they were hesitant to discuss the matter. Maybe I should go out and ask strangers why they got their tattoos. I may receive more candid answers than the answers I received from family and friends.

Finally, I am not for or against tattoos. I guess it is just a part of the current culture. Tattoos, pierced ears, pierced tongues, ring in the belly button; all are a part of this society. It comes down to a personal decision that you have to make and that decision will be with you for a long time.