# Are tattoos way overplayed by now? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 31, 2012, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tattoos-way-overplayed-by-now/633297 "2012-08-31T18:51:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2012, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tattoos-way-overplayed-by-now/633297/61 "2012-09-01T17:50:29Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > The point is that, when you are 80 you will be a substantially different person than you are now. And you are making irrevocable decisions for that person. All of us make decisions all the time for our future selves. This is a substantial part of what life is. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2012, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tattoos-way-overplayed-by-now/633297/62 "2012-09-01T19:22:55Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > Could you imagine getting a hairstyle in 1988 that you had to wear permanently? I think that’d be pretty rad, considering my sharply receding/thinning hair today. ---
**Author:** ![apollonia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2bfe46/32.png) [@apollonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/apollonia)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2012, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tattoos-way-overplayed-by-now/633297/63 "2012-09-01T22:36:07Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > For the record (and because it seems an important information) : > > I was reading yesterday an article about health issues related to tattoos (mostly what you’d expect : infection, allergies, etc..) and I was surprised to read that you can sometimes be denied an epidural anesthesia because of tattoos on your back. The reason being that the procedure might force inks into the nervous system with unknown and possibly damaging consequences. > Just thought I would share the info. The study people are basing this “information” on was performed on three patients, none of whom had any problems. [This is the abstract.](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12477678) The best anyone has come up with is that it can theoretically cause problems. [What To Expect](http://www.whattoexpect.com/pregnancy/ask-heidi/tattoos.aspx), [American Pregnancy Association](http://www.americanpregnancy.org/pregnancyhealth/tatoos.htm), [Snopes](http://www.snopes.com/medical/drugs/tattoo.asp), and [Mayo Clinic.](http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/lower-back-tattoo/AN01357) ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2012, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tattoos-way-overplayed-by-now/633297/64 "2012-09-01T23:47:58Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > To be more plain, 10% (ie half the bottom of the range) is “significant” which justifies my minimum statement. 30% being the top of the range is very high in my opinion. You can of course differ on the meaning of very high, but IMHO when a third of people near-permanently mark themselves in a way they regret, that’s very high. Furthermore, look at my post in context. It was a response to **Rachellelogram** heaping shit on \*\*Gaffa’s \*\*post for (allegedly) being so presumptuous as to suggest tattoos may be a matter of regret. Turns out they are a matter for regret up to 30% of the time. That counts as “may” in my book. 30% isn’t high. Your numbers seem to support **Rachellelogram** more than **gaffa**. Did **gaffa’s** 80 year old regret her tattoos? ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2012, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tattoos-way-overplayed-by-now/633297/65 "2012-09-02T00:01:28Z")
> [@Yookeroo](#): > > 30% isn’t high. Your numbers seem to support **Rachellelogram** more than **gaffa**. > > Did **gaffa’s** 80 year old regret her tattoos? Yes, she did. If she could have lived her life over again, she said she would have not gone down that road. But when she did it, she was rebellious and and compared to hooking, it was much less dangerous. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2012, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tattoos-way-overplayed-by-now/633297/66 "2012-09-02T02:12:16Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > All of us make decisions all the time for our future selves. This is a substantial part of what life is. A truism. How is this relevant to Gaffa’s point? > [@Yookeroo](#): > > 30% isn’t high. Your numbers seem to support **Rachellelogram** more than **gaffa**. Firstly, bear in mind that 30% is potentially conservative. Given that surveys aren’t reliable, and people don’t like to admit they now feel they made a mistake, the numbers could be either high or low. I already said upthread it could be as low as 10%. It may be higher than 30%. Secondly, I think about how I’d feel if I was about to make a decision with permanent effect that up to (let’s stick with) 30% of people came to regret even though, at the time, they did not think they would come to regret that decision. In that situation I would _want_ someone like **gaffa** to present their more mature long term view, and to show me the data. I’m not so precious as to get my knickers in a twist about presumptuousness. I want to _know_ about ways in which statistically my brain may be heading down the wrong road. Let me give you a real life example. I want to buy a yacht. I really do. I dream about it. I could afford it. I really feel like it would be great to have it. I really feel like I wouldn’t regret it. Yet people keep saying to me “_don’t buy one, a huge number of people feel like you but end up only actually enjoying the day they buy it and the feeling of relief when they sell the damn thing_”. I **do not** tell people giving me this advice that they have a “_thick skull_” and I do not say to them “_How is it any less presumptuous of YOU to think that you know better what I will regret later than what I think I will regret later? Your argument is one enormous fallacious fail. I don’t even have a yacht , and you’re pissing me off. Did a yacht kill your father and rape your mother?_” I say, “_I guess that is what happens with a lot of people, you are probably right_” Sigh. I may still buy a yacht. I may come to regret it. But I am not about to get angry and defensive about what is probably good advice, or at least advice worth hearing. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2012, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tattoos-way-overplayed-by-now/633297/67 "2012-09-02T05:54:07Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > Yes, she did. If she could have lived her life over again, she said she would have not gone down that road. But when she did it, she was rebellious and and compared to hooking, it was much less dangerous. I think we can all agree it’s not a surprise that someone who felt her options in life were “tattooed lady in the circus” and “hooker” had some regrets later on. That doesn’t have much to do with how your typical person is going to feel about their tattoos late in life. There are much bigger issues at work there. > [@Princhester](#): > > Let me give you a real life example. I want to buy a yacht. I really do. I dream about it. I could afford it. I really feel like it would be great to have it. I really feel like I wouldn’t regret it. Yet people keep saying to me “_don’t buy one, a huge number of people feel like you but end up only actually enjoying the day they buy it and the feeling of relief when they sell the damn thing_”. Here’s the problem: the commentary is usually not offered as advice. It’s just a prediction that one day you’ll be unhappy with your decision. When you’re considering whether or not you want to get the yacht, you might appreciate someone bringing up the potential downsides so you don’t go into it blindly. On the other hand if you’ve already bought the yacht and owned it for 5 or 10 or 20 years without problems or diminished enjoyment and the person continues to assert that you’ve made a mistake that will make you miserable one day, I think it’s very unlikely you’ll appreciate it or think much of the person’s opinion. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2012, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tattoos-way-overplayed-by-now/633297/68 "2012-09-02T14:36:56Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I think we can all agree it’s not a surprise that someone who felt her options in life were “tattooed lady in the circus” and “hooker” had some regrets later on. That doesn’t have much to do with how your typical person is going to feel about their tattoos late in life. There are much bigger issues at work there. This was an 81 year old woman that I met when I was 10. I’m now 51. You do the math and tell me what options a poorly educated rural woman actually had at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tattoos-way-overplayed-by-now/633297/69 "2012-09-03T03:01:20Z")
Well, if you’re saying those were truly her _only_ options, I’d say she made the right one. (Tattoo lady in a circus vs. a hooker? Seems like a no-brainer to me) Is she saying that she wishes she had had other opportunities, or that she had done hooking instead? ---
**Author:** ![heathen\_earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/13edae/32.png) [@heathen\_earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heathen_earthling)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tattoos-way-overplayed-by-now/633297/70 "2012-09-03T03:16:39Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > I do agree that some tattoos would be a bad idea; like say one of Kenny from South Park. Because who the hell is going to know who Kenny is 20 years from now? The first episode of South Park aired over 15 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tattoos-way-overplayed-by-now/633297/71 "2012-09-03T04:04:58Z")
I think the fixation of non-inked Dopers on those who have tattoos is exceeded only by the level of defensiveness of the inked Dopers. mmm ---
**Author:** ![emeraldia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c2a13f/32.png) [@emeraldia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emeraldia)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tattoos-way-overplayed-by-now/633297/72 "2012-09-03T04:32:03Z")
Tattooes are for troublemakers and ne’er-do-wells ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tattoos-way-overplayed-by-now/633297/73 "2012-09-03T05:33:05Z")
Arrrr! ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tattoos-way-overplayed-by-now/633297/74 "2012-09-03T06:52:03Z")
> [@heathen\_earthling](#): > > The first episode of South Park aired over 15 years ago. Seriously? Now I’m feeling really old. ---
**Author:** ![chipmunk9163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d6d6ee/32.png) [@chipmunk9163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chipmunk9163)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tattoos-way-overplayed-by-now/633297/75 "2012-09-03T07:01:23Z")
I got my first tattoo last year and have been hooked ever since. I’m a bit weird about my tattoos though, lol. My torso is covered in kittens. All kinds. Kittens playing with yarn, kittens playing in meadows, kittens reading books, kittens playing dress up. I plan to cover my body. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tattoos-way-overplayed-by-now/633297/76 "2012-09-03T07:27:41Z")
I can spot young american tourists based on their incredible number of tatts, I remember laughing at a young couple where both members had not only tats to their wrists but also to their ankles! There is no other nationality that takes tatts to such an excess as americans, the europeans don’t seem keen on the idea at all. I’m from the US and my lack of tatts is commented on all the time. ---
**Author:** ![simple\_homer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@simple\_homer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simple_homer)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tattoos-way-overplayed-by-now/633297/77 "2012-09-03T08:49:25Z")
> [@grude](#): > > I can spot young american tourists based on their incredible number of tatts, I remember laughing at a young couple where both members had not only tats to their wrists but also to their ankles! There is no other nationality that takes tatts to such an excess as americans, the europeans don’t seem keen on the idea at all. > > I’m from the US and my lack of tatts is commented on all the time. In my travels I have seen many more young British tourists with tattoos. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tattoos-way-overplayed-by-now/633297/78 "2012-09-03T09:08:24Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Seriously? Now I’m feeling really old. I looked this up yesterday and then decided not to hijack the thread but… South Park has been running for 15 years. The Flintstones ran for six. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tattoos-way-overplayed-by-now/633297/79 "2012-09-03T09:18:30Z")
> [@simple\_homer](#): > > In my travels I have seen many more young British tourists with tattoos. I didn’t mean to imply other nationalities have no tatts, they do of course. But the sleeve and leg look, or excessive tattoos seems american in origin. I don’t care either way but there is a strange bit of social pressure put on you if you don’t have any tattoos, you’re seen as weird. \*When I posted this I wondered how long it would take for someone to say no way and post actual tribal tattoos. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tattoos-way-overplayed-by-now/633297/80 "2012-09-03T09:41:28Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Here’s the problem: the commentary is usually not offered as advice. It’s just a prediction that one day you’ll be unhappy with your decision. When you’re considering whether or not you want to get the yacht, you might appreciate someone bringing up the potential downsides so you don’t go into it blindly. On the other hand if you’ve already bought the yacht and owned it for 5 or 10 or 20 years without problems or diminished enjoyment and the person continues to assert that you’ve made a mistake that will make you miserable one day, I think it’s very unlikely you’ll appreciate it or think much of the person’s opinion. At least on these boards, people don’t know who they are talking to and how long they have had their tatts if they have any. I think people around here are usually offering their thoughts on people who don’t have tatts yet or are young and may well yet come to regret them. If somone in particular was to say “I’ve had my tatts for decades; I think I would know if I was going to regret it by now” that might be well received. I can’t say I’ve seen anyone say that before now. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tattoos-way-overplayed-by-now/633297.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tattoos-way-overplayed-by-now/633297.md?page=5)