I got a tat of spider, only about 1.5 inches by 1.5 inches, on my back when I was 19. Now I am almost 60. The tat is not much more than a black smudge now and you can barely even tell what it is even though it is a fairly simple design.
Since so many young people are getting large, and often several, tats now days I can only imagine what they will think of them when they are 30, or 60. What I thought was really "cool" when I was a teenager is not so "cool" anymore. Ideas and interests change. Tats are all but permanent and colors fade and the ink will bleed into surrounding tissue over time causing the image to distort and loose sharpness.
I know when you are young its all about the present with little thought about the future. Been there, done that. I know my telling you this will pretty much mean nothing to you because you already "know it all" and forethought escapes you. Not because you lack intelligence but simply because you are young. We were all that way. As you grow older your thinking will change but there is not much anyone can tell you now that will make any difference. You will have to find it out for your self.
Also keep in mind that regardless of what you see in the movies and on TV or whatever, many jobs and opportunities are closed to people with visible tats. Most nursing schools and medical school will not accept people with visible tats and they can limit you in other ways.
Now, if your life ambition is to work in circus or midway, work construction, drive a truck or anyone of a number of other perfectly honorable professions, than any number of tats will probably not hold you back. But, if you ever expect to reach for much more than a lower/middle class life style then you should consider tats as part of the equation.
Anyway, I'm done. I'm not lecturing. I'm not telling you not to tat yourself from one end to the other. I'm just saying there is another side to every coin and perhaps you should at least try to think about it.
Peace
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AC and WoW: Tired and Retired
Paramedic, Swift Water Rescue, Public Safety Diver
Registered Nurse
Viet Nam Vet 1972-73
