Judge a book by it's cover - ink and metal

[mrs.b]

My tattoo is fully concealable; that was one of the requirements during design. I do HR for goodness sake; while I have no issues with tattoos - I have that one and most of my husband's upper body is covered with a couple on his legs - I work in an organization where coverage is expected. My artist was very considerate and took it into account, including me bringing in a handful of work shirts so she could get placement right (along with asking me each time if I was absolutely sure; I had one tiny tattoo about 2" x 2" that she incorporated to make one piece and she was worried I'd not return after the first sitting, heh).

On someone else's names tattooed... I used to wince when I saw those, then I met a man a few years ago with "Sonia" emblazoned across his neck. Eventually, I learned it was his daughter's name and his little girl was lost in an auto accident. He put it there partly because the rest of his body was covered, but also because he said he tried to offer his voice in memory of her since singing was so important to her, as was speaking up for others. I stopped making snap decisions on names at that point. It's not something I would do - at least I don't think so, but I pray I'll never face loss like that to be put in the same position - but unless or until I hear the story behind the tattoo, I tend to assume I don't have enough information to know whether it's a silly choice or an intentional and carefully-chosen decision.

As for tribal tattoos, I've seen some that are beautiful. I'd be curious to hear the story and meaning, mostly. It's not something I would do, but it's not something that holds significant meaning in my culture so I'd feel doing so myself would be more of a disrespect to those cultures.