My opinion

Hello friends.

So anyone who knows me knows that I love tattoo's. Like a lot. Like I have 10 tattoos and a geek half-sleeve kind of love for tattoos. And I am not the kind of person that cares whether or not you have tattoos. I also don't care where you have tattoos. Personally, I will not get tattoos below my wrists, above my neck, or below my ankles. That is just a personal preference. The wrist and neck are for professional reasons and the ankles is just a personal preference because my feet are bony..... and that is a kind of pain I just don't want. Just like I won't get my ribs or my spine tattooed for the very same reason. Matter of fact, I got two new tattoos and a touch up while I was on leave last week!

That being said... I have seen an article circulating around the tattooed community that caught my interest. There is an article circulating around about a blogger that went to get her neck tattooed and she was refused by a tattoo artist (several in fact) but it's her response to this artist that caught everyone's attention. She blasted him on her blog about his refusal and was actually kind of rude about it. His response to her post is what caught my attention. AND I LOVE IT!

While she was rude and judgmental, he was polite and calm. He even asked his followers to stop calling her names because it's not something he himself would do. 

The tattoo on the inside of my left calf
This is "The Soldier's Cross" for my friend Zack, The Dallas Cowboys Star, and some red, white, and blue for America
Size wise, this is one of my biggest tattoos aside from my Geek half-sleeve

She was ranting about his refusal to tattoo her neck and he calmly explained why he chose not to tattoo her neck. I think it was a beautiful response. He said that because she wasn't already heavily tattooed, he wasn't comfortable tattooing her in such a visible place. He went on to explain that it was also because some places won't hire people with neck or hand tattoos. It's his personal preference and I respect that.

Take for instance the military. There was a big hooplah not too long ago (like last year) about tattoos in the Army. The Army has gone back and forth for years on whether or not they accept people with tattoos on their hands and necks, and it always changes during the transition between war and peace. The last Sergeant Major of the Army instituted a rule a year or so ago that you couldn't have tattoo's below your shirt sleeve or below your knees after a certain date (unless you had them previously.) I.e. no new sleeve work was allowed. And of course people were outraged. Tattoos and the military go hand in hand. It's in fact very rare to see people without at least one tattoo (although I have met a couple). The SMA's reasoning was that it wasn't professional looking. Most specifically when we wore our dress uniforms (which is mostly rare unless you work in a special job that requires frequent wear of you dress uniform). Our argument (one of mine specifically) is that unless I am in PT's (working out) or have removed my uniform jacket, you would never know that I have tattoos unless you know me. Sure, I have one on each forearm and now one on my wrist (it is hidden by my watch though and no one has even noticed it at work), but people rarely see them when I am in uniform. 

Tattoos are part of the culture of the military. Thankfully one of the first things the new SMA did was retract that rule, we can have no ink below our knees and shirt sleeves- but still not on our hands or neck. Because we can cover everything else.

So back to the point of this ramble. It's the artists' choice on whether or not he will tattoo someone, and he doesn't like tattooing people's necks or hands. That is a personal preference, which I respect. What I don't respect is the female's response to his preference. She even made it a gender thing, asking him if he would do that tattoo on a male. Of course, he said he would have the same response to a man who isn't already heavily tattooed. That's his whole thing- if they aren't already heavily tattooed. I think her reaction to him was completely ridiculous, and even a little childish, but his response was perfect.... and gentlemanly.

I'm not quite sure if there is a specific purpose of this post other then me wanting to share my opinion. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, the female is entitled to her opinion, but it doesn't mean that people have to agree with it. Read both her post and his response and form your own opinion. Let's talk about it! BUT BE RESPECTFUL! I won't tolerate disrespectful comments toward anyone.