Scars Are Souvenirs You Never Lose

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Have you seen my link for Inked Blog over in my blogroll? If you're at all interested in body art, you should go check it out. Their most interesting & frequent feature has people writing in to share the stories behind their tattoos. I've thought about it, but none of my tattoos are horribly interesting to anybody but me.

I have 3 tattoos, and they’re all situated in noticeable areas because, really, what’s the point in spending all that time and money on a tattoo that only you can see? Here you can see my eye of Ra tattoo on my chest :

I also have a Celtic knot on my back and Bean’s name on my left ankle. And a whole host of others that I want to get, but haven’t yet.

It can get pretty interesting when I’m in public with Bean. You’d be surprised how many people think you’re an unfit parent simply because you’re inked. I get quite a few disapproving glares, but the best is when people actually talk to me. They usually fall into one of 3 categories. This first is little old ladies who usually ask “Is she yours?” and then tsk-tsk to themselves as they walk away. Those I don’t mind so much, as they’re harmless and tend to say sweet things to Bean. The second is men who see baby & tattoo and automatically think easy lay. These I can handle as long as they can take a hint and aren’t too crude. The third category is the worst. They’re the yuppy-SUV-driving-Botoxed soccer moms. They typically don’t actually talk to me, but about me. They pull their kids away from Bean at the park like she has leprosy. I think it goes back to the old-fashioned assumption that tattooed women are immoral. Jay doesn’t seem to have as much of a problem with it as I do.

On the other hand, it’s so much fun watching Bean learn my tattoos. She’ll sit and trace them with her fingers with a look of wonder in her eyes. It makes me wonder if she’ll get inked when she gets older. Ah, by the time she’s old enough to, it’ll be passé and no one will want to anymore.