# are you glad you got (a) tattoo(s)? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 1, 2018, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-glad-you-got-a-tattoo-s/807948 "2018-02-01T14:20:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2018, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-glad-you-got-a-tattoo-s/807948/41 "2018-02-05T19:30:35Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > An unexamined phrase is not worth tattooing? Exactamundo. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2018, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-glad-you-got-a-tattoo-s/807948/42 "2018-02-05T21:21:48Z")
> [@Misnomer](#): > > When they apply the stencil so you can review the size and positioning, **proofread**. 😃 I had printed out my tattoo and told the artist I wanted to change the color of one of the elements. When I got to the back room he had all his ink out, and I noticed one of the colors was missing. I asked him about it and :smack: he’d been going off the original print out and forgot to switch out the color. Good thing I noticed before he started inking. ---
**Author:** ![Dereknocue67](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6de8d8/32.png) [@Dereknocue67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dereknocue67)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2018, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-glad-you-got-a-tattoo-s/807948/43 "2018-02-06T09:10:33Z")
I love my tattoos because all were done with invisible ink. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2018, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-glad-you-got-a-tattoo-s/807948/44 "2018-02-06T11:07:59Z")
> [@Arrendajo](#): > > Until I was about 60 years old, I wouldn’t have considered a tattoo either. For most of my life I have considered what I was into the previous 4 or 5 years silly and frivolous; what I wanted at the time, but now part of a younger, stupider me. Somewhere at the beginning of my 6th decade, I realized I hadn’t felt that way for some time. I was pretty much the man I was going to be. I was still learning and growing, but the fundamental me was set. Furthermore, there were a few defining events in my life that I felt like I should commemorate. > I had always liked the look of a well done tattoo (they are abundant in my town) so I started keeping my eyes open for something that would be appealing and meaningful to me. I realized after a while that what I really wanted was an original tattoo, something designed by me, worn by me, and for my own self to enjoy. I wasn’t out to make a statement to the world. So I did that, and I’m happy I did. It’s on my upper right arm, and since I almost always wear long sleeved T’s, even in hot weather, almost no one will ever see it but the people closest to me. My wife, obviously, has seen it, and my step daughter, but I haven’t even mentioned it to anyone else. Even my son doesn’t know about it. I haven’t told anyone at work or any of my friends about it. I didn’t get it to show off to people, I got it for me. Yes, that’s it. I guess that is the difference: tattoos I might’ve considered before I was unconsciously assessing based on how they would look to others. The one I will get when it is time is one I came up with for me. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2018, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-glad-you-got-a-tattoo-s/807948/45 "2018-02-06T12:30:19Z")
Just got my second tattoo. At 61 yrs, a full 25+ yrs after the first! (A very slim, delicate, band half way up my left forearm. Designed it myself. Had it done in Vietnam.) And I love it. So, so much! I’m sorry I waited so long for the second one…almost! The advances in tattoo tech made the newest one so much less irritating to get than the first, yay! ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2018, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-glad-you-got-a-tattoo-s/807948/46 "2018-02-06T13:33:47Z")
> [@Dereknocue67](#): > > I love my tattoos because all were done with invisible ink. I realize you are joking, but . . . Yeah, it’s pretty common for apprentice tattooists to tattoo themselves with water for practice. I also saw a tattoo done with oil (mineral?cooking?), leaving an invisible tattoo that became slightly visible when the person was hot/perspiring/flushed. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2018, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-glad-you-got-a-tattoo-s/807948/47 "2018-02-06T16:10:58Z")
**Are you happy with your tattoo?** My view is from the other side. I am not happy with my tattoo. **Do you wish you’d gotten a different tattoo?** No. **Do you regret getting a tattoo at all?** Yep. Went to a tattoo parlor with a couple guys on the night before my 19th birthday. We all walked out with fresh tattoos. 40 plus years later mine is just a black blob on my arm, it hardly resembles the original. A tattoo artist said he could clean it up for $400. I only paid $20 for it back in 1975. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-glad-you-got-a-tattoo-s/807948.md?page=2)