When I was growing up tattoo's were on crusty sailors and ne'er do wells. You saw a tattoo you crossed the street with some pep in your step.
Today the younger ones get them to rebel or to make a personal statement or from peer pressure. A close observer would conclude that they simply want to look like a bunch of tools. I've read that many consider it a side of them that people don't know. This could very well be.
On the other hand it's quite possible this is a side people don't want to know:
Still, one wonders if the other side couldn't be displayed on a custom made t-shirt.
A friend of mine recently went off to an island with his wife and returned with a tattoo. Nothing major, just a small shape - no animal, vegetable or mineral - on his lower left calf.
I don't know if the idea of it surged new life into his aging soul - as if suddenly the spring would return to the step and the autumn years would be filled with warm breezes and bright sunshine - or it was an alternative to the comb over or perhaps a replacement for washing that gray right out of your hair. No matter, I felt that I could have stepped in had I known that such a daffy idea was brewing beneath that frosty top. But I had no inkling he was about to go off and behave like an idiot.
I was concerned. Concern is something that old people become quite familiar with as we get... uh ... old. Not the least of these is the loss of marbles. Losing marbles is as high on the list as it gets. Well, wearing Depends is up there too. And death. Ok, marble loss should be third on the list. But if you lose enough marbles then the other two are no longer a concern, right? It's all very confusing. Anyway, it seemed that my good friend had misplaced a marble or two and I wasn't at all certain he had put in a good search for them. He seemed pleased with his new look.
Even though the adorned calf had jolted me I was not to rain on my friends parade. I kindly told him it was pretty "cool". I asked about it, how did he decide on the design, did it hurt, what did it cost...
I've even found the perfect gift for him to go along with his calf tattoo:
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