Realizing I’ve evolved into a dinosaur, I try to keep my mouth shut, well, at least around people, CFI is different . So every time I see someone, especially pretty ladies, who have plastered their arms, or legs, or torso, or face, and often a combination - I want to ask WTF, as in: Why you do that to yourself?
But, I don’t, I remind myself to shut up and simply move along. Don’t want to be ruffling feathers unnecessarily. But, I tell you, I am more and more curious. Recently, I seem to be on a run, and just this morning saw a nice looking lady who looks like a colorful billboard, and I think oh lordie what have you done to yourself, and now you’re stuck with it, why oh why?
Oh and don’t even think about them old tattoos on old skin, besides all wrinkles and sagging, colors are washed out, designs often illegible. Why? I can appreciate a smallish commemorative tats, but using your skin as a canvas doesn’t compute.
Well, I did get a job, but I had an earring for a while. When I was unemployed, shaving the beard and getting a haircut seemed to help with the interviews. When I worked where they were serious about drug testing, I had to watch out for that. I kept voting for progressive candidates though and now some of those rebellious things are business as usual.
Are you ever struck, when you’re in your interior world, how incredibly close that adolescent with his questions and rebelliousness and dreams can feel to that old man staring back at you from the mirror?
(Written before your comment. I got the hair cuts too, came in very handy with jobs, and hitchhiking.
Oh, bringing it back to this thread, I’m reminded, in my two and half decades of restaurant & banquets, even the smallest visible tattoo was a kiss of death and relegated one to working in the kitchen, if they wanted to work there.
Oh, every day. Sometimes it’s just an emotional trigger, but often, it feels like I can trace my reaction to current events all the way back to the 70’s. Partly I guess, since things change so slowly, or not at all. There’s that thing too, where we alter our memories to fit our new worldviews.
I’ve asked the same question about tattoos. And what if they get tired of it? It’s difficult to remove and it often scars, so they turn the old tattoo into something else, if they can. Those who do their whole arm I think have it worse, because by the time they are 50 they might say, “Why did I do that?” They can’t remove it like a piece of clothing. And the money it costs… How can they afford it and in some cases, feed their family too? Tattoos aren’t cheap, which is why many do their a little at a time. Lastly, don’t they worry about liver damage, tetanus, and hepatitis? Autopsies have shown some of the ink, as it fades, gets stuck in their livers. I don’t get it, which is probably why I use an easy to remove body art or only have pierced ears, in which I can change my earrings.
Oh and speaking of piercing… pig rings, as I like to call them. Some even look like snot dripping on the edge of their noses. Not only that, the metal pimple(s) on their faces or even the teeth damaging lip piercing and the unintelligible speech due to a tongue piercing. What’s up with that? I don’t get that either. (note: Men with an earring don’t bother me and I would never say any of things about their piercing that cross my mind out loud, but it’s how I see and hear it.)
Lausten is probably right. It’s probably rebellion, but they may come to regret it one day. Too bad he shaved the beard. I think, if kept nicely and neatly, men can look very distinguished and handsome with a beard.
Tattoos on women do look terrible. It’s been pretty popular for over 20 years but really intensified in the 2010s — maybe because of the spread of social media. Low self esteem problem has a lot to do with it.
I don’t doubt that, but when self-esteem rises as they age, especially as they get towards 50s and 60s, they could come to regret it. However, by the time they get to 80 or 90, if they live that long, they might not care again.
. So every time I see someone, especially pretty ladies, who have plastered their arms, or legs, or torso, or face, and often a combination - I want to ask WTF, as in: Why you do that to yourself?