My first tattoo

I loved tattoos when I was younger. I remember seeing people with them and thinking how awesome these people looked. I was probably about 6 when I first started noticing people with them and right away I got hooked on those little transfer tattoos which I’m sure loads of people had when they were kids.

None of my family members had tattoos at the time so this obsession came right out of the blue. I decided I had to have one, but wasn’t sure I could take the pain and there was also the fact that I fucking hate needles. If I couldn’t stand the pain then I was never going to be able to look like these heavily tattooed people that I aspired to look like, so the only way to find out if I could take the pain was to man up and get one. The only problem was I was only 12 at the time of these thoughts.

One week after my 14^th birthday I decided to apply the same tactics to getting a tattoo that I had previously used to getting served in pubs. This was a complicated process that took months to plan out and… I’m just kidding it was simple. Shave my head and grow a beard. So that’s what I did I walked boldly into a shitty little tattoo shop in my home town and got a small tattoo on my hip, just to make sure I could take the pain. As it turned out I could and now 8 years later I am covered in the damn things. But I always remember the angst of the first time I walked into a tattoo shop. Most people who get tattooed under age get a friend of a friend or some two-bit scratcher to tattoo them, which is an experience I have never had.

I still have the tattoo and have no plans to cover it or get rid of it, but I don’t recommend getting tattooed that young and especially not by some guy who is tattooing out of his house and hasn’t got a portfolio of work that you can look at.

Tattoos: a tale of discrimination and narrow minds

Tattooing and tattoos themselves have been around thousands of years. Which makes it all the more strange that people still have such a hard time excepting them. I myself have a growing collection of tattoos, which are mainly on my arms but I would not rule out having tattoos anywhere on my body. The problem with this is the perception of tattooed people by none tattooed people.

Here in England tattoos are legal, yet taboo and frowned upon by many even with them becoming more and more popular. For instance I know of nightclubs that will not let people in with tattoos showing (well not men anyway, I’ve seen them let women in with tattoos on show). I’d think that this was classed as discrimination, which by definition is acting upon a prejudice, having preconceived ideas of people due to the way they look. This is not on in my book, I know loads of heavily tattooed people who are decent human beings, along with some who are not but the same can be said about people who have no tattoos at all. Personally I don’t believe that a persons tattoos should stop them getting into places unless their tattoos are offensive (e.g. racist). This reminds me of a story from a couple of years ago where Joel Madden from the band Good Charlotte was supposed to take a British Airways flight from London to Lisbon and was told he couldn’t board the plane until he covered his tattoos. This cements the backwards-thinking British mentality, we’re one of the oldest countries yet we seem to be stuck in our ways instead of moving with the times.

I also think that it is pathetic that in this day and age tattoos could stop you getting a job. As though the ink in your skin makes you less able to do the job. I don’t know what its like in other countries but I for one don’t believe that places like America for instance are so backwards thinking on this subject.

I personally cant work out why what other people do with their bodies is an issue for anyone else, as I don’t give a fuck what anyone does with any aspect of their life as long as it doesn’t effect me, and tattoos don’t effect anybody but the person they are on. People may say that they shouldn’t have to look at other people’s “ugly tattoos” well I think these people should grow the fuck up, as I for one would much rather look at someone’s “ugly tattoos” than have to spend a minute in the company of people with horrible personalities, who think that they are the center of the universe and that everyone’s opinions and way of life should align with their own, and these pig-fuckers hide in plain sight with no visual warning. I always say that tattoos are only a big deal to people who don’t have them, people who have them realize how unimportant they are, they are merely pictures and words on skin nothing more and they change nothing about the person who is sporting them.

Art is not a crime, nor should it be. Yet to some narrow-minded people in this country wearing your art makes you a criminal. This 1930’s mentality is spread throughout all areas in England from; tattoos, drugs, religion, politics etc… and is keeping us in the dark ages. We wonder why this country is as messed up as it is when the majority of the last 3 generations of people all share the same views and opinions as the generation that came before them. This country seems to take 2 steps forward and 3 steps back, and I fear that this is not going to change anytime soon.