I’m a single male, several years removed from college, and thinking about getting a tattoo. I’m not the type of person who does things like this without great consideration, and I’m well aware of the pros and cons of getting a tattoo.
But for those of you out there who have tats, I ask: regardless of how confident you were in getting your tattoo in the first place, and regardless of how happy you were with the work done, do you now regret it? Or are you still happy with your decision?
I got my one tattoo about 5 years ago. I have no regrets. I thought it about and made several trips to the tattoo parlor before I actually went through with it.
You have to decide how much you’re willing to make this a part of who you are, because it will be a part of you.
My tattoo is small and simple - a yin/yang symbol about two inches in diameter on my left shoulder. I can’t fathom not being able to garner some meaning from it. Give/take - good/evil - what goes around comes around. I like to have that little reminder a permanent part of myself.
Just remember, if you get a naked woman with a flaming skull holding a bottle of Jack Daniels tattooed on you chest, it’ll still be there when you’re 80.
I regret telling my friend he should get a tattoo of a goat on his leg, he listened to me and now everytime someone sees it he has to explain why he got a goat on his leg (there was a good reason why I recommended it).
Double P - I have 6 tattoos. I heartily recommend you think long and hard before getting one. My first 3 tottoos I got with my friends in the Air Force, before I gave much thought to having these on my body for the rest of my life. The last 3 actually have some meaning for me. So, keep in mind, although I obviously have no qualms about getting a tattoo (or getting a 7th if I find something I really want), I would still have all of my first 3 tattoos removed if I could afford it. My advice - don’t get one because it looks cool or because a friend recommends it. Get a tattoo that means something to you, that has some personal meaning, then years later, you don’t feel so stupid for having donw it.
I got my first tatoo a few years after college. Like you, I spent a lot of time thinking about it, and like Jack, I made several trips to tatoo parlors before getting it.
I have no regrets whatsoever, and I have gotten a few more since. None of the ones I have (so far) are very large or elaborate, and they can all be hidden/displayed when I choose.
while I was married, my (then) husband wanted a tattoo. I hated them, we comprimised, (I got my ears pierced and he didn’t get the tat). we divorced, some where between 3 seconds and 3 weeks later, he got an eagle put on his chest. Puffed around a lot…
fast forward. within 5 years, the colors were fading.
He’d loose and gain the same 40 pounds every few years, so by now (14 years later), you can’t even tell what it was.
He is now very vocal with our son about “don’t do it”.
But that’s his experience… Obviously, YMMV
I’m pretty confident in want I’d like to get. Because I’m Catholic and of Irish descent, I’m thinking about a Celtic Cross. I’ve scoured the internet for images I like, and I’ve also visited some parlors. My big fear is that the image I have in mind, or the image I bring to the artist, won’t translate well. My other fear, like some of you are implying, is that I’ll look really dumb as I get older.
PS, I’m sorry I don’t know this, but could you help me out with “YMMV,” wring?
Your Milage Might Vary =
since this is not an exact science, and there’s lots of variables here, I’m merely posting experiences I’m aware of without trying to make the claim that the same will happen to you.
I got my tattoo over ten years ago, have never regretted it, and have been keening to get another one.
I recommend:
Oh, and y’all need to send me pics of your tattoos so I can put 'em up on the tattoo pages....ianna@bellatlantic.net …
</shameless plug>
Double P -
[shameless plug] Check out the Celtic Cross I got…it’s on my website under the section marked “Pictures of me!”[/shameless plug]
And nope, no regrets at all about getting it, a year later.
No regrets here either! I have two tattoos, one at the base of my spine, one on my hip and I’ve never regretted getting them. I agree you should think carefully about what to have and where to have it. Something meaningful to you is the best way to go IMHO. I’m hoping to get another tattoo soon, I know where and I know what - I just need the money!!
Let’s see…
Two years ago I got a tattoo of a trilobite on my wrist.
It was completely spontaneous, I had never even imagined that I would ever be the sort of person to get a tattoo, but my friend was opening a tattoo parlour and needed someone to practice on-
“Ok, I’ll get one…I dunno, I like trilobites, can you do a trilobite?”
Two years later…nope, don’t regret it yet.
It’s really cool looking, but I don’t know how I’ll feel when my grandchildren ask why gramma has a bug on her wrist.
Or maybe they will think I am the coolest gramma in the world for having a fossil tattoo.
I have a “C” on my chest for my wife (her first initial), I have a triquetra on my leg for protection (so far it’s working), and I have a blue crescent moon on my right shoulder (back) for my daughter.
The only regret I have is that the moon is a little larger than it should be. Myself, I’d go small rather than large, but of course that’s personal choice.
My next one is a sun to balance out the moon on my back, but I’ll probably wait for the wife to get pregnant first. It’ll be for the next child.
Like everyone has already said, you really have to think long and hard about it and have some meaning behind it. I have a few tattoo’s and I don’t regret any of them, even if they look like shit now after 20 years. Every time I notice them (and believe me, after a few years, you don’t really see them anymore. They become part of you) they remind me of the specific time in my life that I got it. Example: My first tattoo was done when I was 18. When I look at it, it brings me back to the exact time when I was so young, with my best friends, drunk, and with my whole life ahead of me. As you get older, it gets harder to remember those times and I’m glad I have the tat to remind me.
And remember: Tattoo’s are addictive. If you get one because you want one, not because others talked you into it, you will be getting more. Trust me.
Interesting you’d say this, since Daffy Duck is one of the 3 tattoos I would keep. The other two is the tribal designed yin-yang I have around my left wrist (hard to describe what it looks like) and the comedy/tragedy faces on my right calf.
The tattoos I’d scrap - the panther on my right shoulder (my first), the tribal on my left leg and the dragon on my back (I drew both of these myself, though they’d look cool, so I got them as tattoos. Yeah, they make good tattoos - on someone else. They just don’t fit me.)
Double P - have you considered designing your own tattoo?
I sometimes regret mine. It’s visible under most dressy tops and dresses, so I sometimes try to cover it with makeup or a bandaid, with varying success. Of course all my friends have seen it, but it does affect how some new guys talk to you, or decide not to talk to you. That’s the worst, when they come up ready to say something, see it, then get flustered and back off. If I then go to them to say hi it turns out they didn’t care, but just felt awkward for a second.
This is interesting to me because I have considered it too. I got a belly button piercing instead. I still think about it every so often. I would get in on my hip/butt or round the base of my spine. It would be small and easy to cover. I have seen some girls that have them prominently displayed and they show through wedding dresses and stuff. Tha’s not for me.
My SO’s dad had tattoos all over his lower arms from when he was in the marines. He got them lasered off. Said it was very painful and he would tell anyone who was thinking of getting one, not to.
He said what was painful? Getting the tattoos or getting them lasered off? I’ve heard the removal hurts worse that getting them.
And since we’re discussing pain, that’s what drives most people away from getting a tattoo. To me, it didn’t hurt an a cat scratch, or when you skin your knee. The pain feels about the same, not pleasant, but hardly unbearable. In fact, of the 6 tattoos I’ve got the one that hurt the worst was the tribal around my left wrist when it got to the underside of my wrist - no padding there, all tendens and veins and stuff. That did NOT feel good at all.
My GF got one on her butt-looks good-but I only get to see it when she wears a thong bikini!
I have a huge tattoo on my lower back. I got it 5 or 6 years ago, but I had thought about it for a good two years before I did it. It has a lot of meaning for me, and I don’t regret it at all. I haven’t gotten another one, but I’m not against it - I just wouldn’t take it lightly.
I’m VERY happy with the work that was done - my tattoo artist modified my original idea a little bit so that it would look better where I wanted it, and spent a lot of time making sure the design was perfect before he ever started actually tattoing me. I went to someone that whose work I had already seen and liked on several people. I think that it’s very important to make sure you’ve seen some examples of an artist’s tats before you walk into the shop. You shouldn’t rush ANY aspect of the decision. Besides, most people like to talk about their tats, so if you see someone with a tattoo you really like, they probably won’t mind if you ask who did it or anything else.