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Saturday, December 30, 2017

It's an Age Thing

We had a wonderful holiday with our entire family here less Son3's girlfriend who was in Sweden with her family. Sweden? Birmingham? Sweden? Birmingham? Not really a difficult choice, eh?
I know he missed her terribly, but because of the miracle of modern communications and thanks to Steve Jobs and co. they were able to Facetime with each other daily and she did get to be a part of our festivities, which was great also.

The weather was a bit coolish so long sleeves were in order until midway through the visit when we had a one day warm up. All of my sons tend to be rather hot natured and all changed into cargo shorts and tee shirts to hang out inside the house that afternoon.  And that is when I saw it.  Son1 has remained uninked throughout his life, claiming there is no need to provide anything that could be used to identify you in a police line-up. Son2 has 2 tats but they are on his lower leg and easily covered by socks. But now Son3 is wearing a 5 or 6 inch train on  the inside of his arm. I know it is his body and his decision. He had an image of one of my dad's trains tattooed on his arm, and while I appreciate the sentiment, I have no idea why anyone thinks to honor and remember someone you have to get something permanently affixed to your skin. We discussed it and it seems I am old and do not understand the value of wearing meaningful artwork, Every. Single. Day. Of. Your. Life. Forever.


Perhaps my aversion to them is that I am old enough to want crap removed from my body, not added to it. Plus I am old enough to know that older skin gets wrinkled and loose and that nice taunt train will eventually derail  (The photo is not Son3's tat but is somewhat similar in that it is a modern engine, not the steam variety)

When I asked him why it was prominent and visible he informed me he wanted something he could see to remind him of my dad daily. It's funny because without a tat I see things that remind me of Dad every single day.

I am not angry, it's not my arm and ultimately none of my business, but if any of you can explain how ink is endearing, please do. I am trying to understand but coming up blank.

49 comments:

  1. I don't know why it's endearing. It's not, as far as I'm concerned. My son is covered in tats. It took me a long time to get used to them. I don't understand the women who have boob jobs, either. I'd like mine to be smaller.

    Love,
    Janie

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    1. I would not mind having a boob lift! (Well, if it didn't hurt and was not really surgery!)

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    2. I need my entire body lifted. Everything is drooping.

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  2. It's a generational thing I think. Both my sons have a tat(eldest has 2)but the Daughter doesn't. Maybe it's a manly thing?? I just know I have seen enough woman my age with badly placed tats that are now sagging and even more badly placed. lolz

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    1. Yep I know it is generational, and I have seen many sag and lose their former beauty.

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  3. No tats here. I see lots and wonder how they will hold up. Not well I suspect.
    I also worry about ear plugs. How will it feel in years to come to have holes the wind can whistle through...

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  4. I am so totally against tats and other body art. Oldest child, son, has none and probably never will. Second child, daughter, never had tats, and I was so proud. However, she decided for her 30th birthday, she would get a vine around her ankle. I thought she was past the danger of getting one. I was so disappointed. Youngest, daughter, has none that I know of.

    Having things taken off my body is more my thing. I do like the humor and logic in number one son's attitude.

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    1. I am not inherently against them, I just don't understand them.

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    2. Anne,
      I am totally against tats on my children not all tats on all people. I was disappointed at daughter's but got over it. It is her body.

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  5. tattoos were just becoming fashionable and were probably "edgy" around the time I left school and I have many times considered getting one but knowing how I can love the latest shirt or the latest fashion in home wares and then hate it a few years on, I'm not prepared to do take that risk with my body and I'm starting to think I was smart about it. I have seen numerous skin cancers caused by tattoo ink and many many blurry, distorted "artworks". Not so attractive.

    I have a piercing high on my ear which I love but it has developed significant scar tissue around it due to me sleeping on it so I'm hesitant to get more of those, as well.

    I'm glad you had a good Christmas and haven't modern communications revolutionised things?

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    1. Modern communication is fantastic. Our granddaughter lives 3000 miles away but we get to "see" her on a regular basis.

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  6. I have a friend who worked in a VA hospital and she said without exception the aging vets were sorry they had gotten a tattoo when they were younger. I wonder what this younger tattooed generation will think in 20 or 30 years?

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    1. I think if any of us wanted to make a fortune we would figure out a process of easily removing them. In a few years there will probably be a huge market for that.

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  7. I don't have a tatoo. I am too afraid of needles but have secretly wanted one near one of my ankles. WhY? I have no idea! LOL

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    1. I guess I am just too simplistic but I have never wanted to add additional crap. I currently use products designed to get rid of sunspots. I can't imagine adding anything else!

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  8. My daughter has three-tasteful ones, two short quotes and a Wild things crown. Tasteful was sarcasm. I was dispaointed, but she is in the arts so the norm there I guess. I'm glad for modern technology as well.

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    1. It is ultimately none of our business, I guess.
      Technology is a fascinating thing. If you had told me when I was a teen I could have face to face conversations with another person any day and any time, I would have thought you were going all Dick Tracey on me.

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  9. Ah kids, even adult ones will drive you to a huge glass of wine...every single day. My oldest Stepson was adamantly against tatoos his whole life...then he joined the army and now is fully inked up. Is becoming a cop. I don't get it either but like you say, their body. Just not something I can relate to

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    1. I can't relate either but I am trying to be more open minded

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  10. I can't help you. I don't understand tattoos at all, and frankly, find them very tacky. I hope my children won't get them. With any luck, this fad will pass, as most fads tend to do.

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  11. There is nothing endearing about tats. Good lord, if you like it so much have someone paint a picture and hang it on the darn wall. My cousin has taken it upon himself to get tats in honor of 2 friends of his family and a girlfriend's sister's passing. Yes, all memoriams to dead people. He looks like a walking obituary. Not to mention the girlfriend is OF COURSE now an ex. Oh Lord, help me bite my tongue...

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    1. I can see tats and really appreciate the artwork, but I am not a tat gal.

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  12. I told my girls if they get a tattoo I had better not see it. Tattoos are for cancer patients and concentration camp survivors plain and simple. I am a wonderful and understanding mother....

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    1. Ha I was going to say that I have 4 tats (from radiation therapy). :D I like shocking my friends by telling them I have 4 tats since I am so not a tattoo person.

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    2. I never told any of mine to get one or not get one. I just don't understand body art as a memorial

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    3. Kathy it's funny you like shocking people!

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    4. See now there is a reason for a tatoo. Wear them like a badge Kathy.

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  13. I always thought I'd like a tattoo until I got a henna tattoo while on vacation. I hated it. I recommend getting a temp tat to see how you feel with having your skin decorated before committing. That being said, my brother has memorial tats of my mom on both his arms. She used to work as a guide for one of the historical restorations in Tarrytown NY, most notable for Sleepy Hollow. My brother has Rip Van Winkle sleeping under a tree on one arm and the headless horseman in a cemetery on the other arm, both are embellished all around by other images. Really cool artwork, but not for me. It seems though that nearly everyone I know has at least one tattoo.

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    1. I know I don't want one though one of my friends had eyeliner tattooed and it looks fantastic

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  14. I would never get one (DH doesn't understand them at all) but a small one doesn't really bother me. The ones who have them prominently displayed all over their body I think look ridiculous, especially on women and especially are going to, when they are like 50 or 60, in my opinion. My daughter has two small ones. One on her back just above her shoulder blade, a heart with the word "family" like a heartbeat graph sign. Then she recently got one of a small owl on her ankle. Not sure if she will get more. Her BF doesn't really like them either. My son has quite a few now, too. A big one on his chest that is supposed to memorialize DH's best friend who died (and was also very close to DS). We were like you could "memorialize" him much better by living a decent/clean life rather than getting a tattoo.......

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    1. It's a generational thing and I guess I am not supposed to understand.

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  15. Tattoos used to be something that had a cultural significance in some societies, I believe. I never wanted one, myself, but, of course, when I had to have my radiation treatment, they tattooed me to mark the radiation site. I think that's a valid reason for a 60 year old woman (my age at the time) to get a tattoo, don't you? But I can't see them, I have birthmarks that are bigger, so having them don't bother me. My daughter is not into tattoos, at all, so far. I have a niece, though, who has several, rather large ones and I know her mother is not pleased.

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  16. Doesn't really bother me, whatever floats your boat. I can think of a lot of worse things!

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  17. I have to admit — they aren’t my thing and I don’t really understand the fascination.

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  18. Hmmm...I find tats very appealing actually, although I don't have one because I am really kind of a wimp about pain. Michael has one and occasionally talks about getting another but I doubt he will. In the library world it's very common for people to have tats, and I think generally they are more accepted. I think the artwork on some of them is amazing and I am especially fascinated by full back and sleeve tattoos. Also, I don't really worry too much about aging bodies and tatoos, because I think at that point it's not as though the tatoo is aging differently than your body, right? So having a tattoo removed is not going to suddenly stop the process or take away from the fact that skin that was taut now sags or that the jolly young sailor on a bicep is now a jolly old sailor with wrinkles just like its owner. They might be reminders of decisions made or experiences from when one is younger; just general markers of a life lived. :)

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    1. You are much younger than I am, and I know my bias and lack of understanding is generational. Son3 is a a musician by profession so he is not living in a community where they are not very expected and common. I understand the artwork, but not the memorial aspect.

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  19. They don't float my boat much either Anne. My son got a bunch of them and I just had to keep my mouth shut, despite that I really wanted to kick his butt. I worked his whole life to keep him healthy and unblemished and the first thing he did when he turned 18 was mark himself up (sigh). Maybe its a mom thing. ???

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    1. I think it is a Mom thing. You tend to their little skin and keep it as pristine as possible while you are raising them and then...oh well.

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  20. Neither of my boys has tattoos (and one is a plumber - talk about stereotyping) but both the girls have them. They are small but ... One woman at work is 50 and is starting to be covered in them (and thinking of getting more). Add to that the tattooed on eyebrows and lip liner which looks VERY hard, she looks awful. I have seen some discreet ankle tattoos on some young women but then I think - heck when you get to my age and the varicose veins on your looks already look like a road map of Britain why do it. Irish comedian Dara O'Brian does a lovely gag about his teenage son wanting a tattoo. So he "calls his wife Mary in" and asks her to show their son her backside! "Now son, is THAT what you want to look like? And thank you Mary!

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  21. I was very anti-tattoo as well but the younger generation has really changed the way people think about tattoos. Yes, it is an age thing. When they feel strongly about something they get a tattoo. You and I might write a blog post instead! My daughter has several and they are very artistically done. The days of getting MOM shakily tattooed across one's chest are gone (thankfully!)

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    1. I suppose I am against the permanence of it more than the actual art. And now over 50 percent of the young adults over 18 have them so it is not uncommon at all.

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    2. Though it is entirely possible that one of my sons has a wizard on his calf that might be the result of drinking and inking!

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