So the other day my friend (who has no tattoos) was complaining about how he thinks no job should ever be able to tell you to cover your tattoos. I (who do have tattoos) don’t necessarily agree with him. I work at a fast food restaurant that makes you cover your tattoos and I think it’s ridiculous for a place that practically serves heart disease on a plate to tell you how you should look. On the other hand, tattoos, while not at all a bad thing, are not the least bit professional. If tattoos looked professional, I wouldn’t have any. Tattoos are a relatively extreme expression of your individuality, and I think doctors, lawyers, CEOs, etc. should absolutely cover their tattoos at work to maintain a professional appearance. I don’t want tattoos to be “normalized.” I don’t want tattoos to be “business appropriate.” I want tattoos to remain a symbol of nonconformity, individuality, and quirkiness. I don’t wanna see my doctor’s tats. I don’t wanna be represented by a lawyer with a big ass dragon on their neck. I want to walk into a hair salon or music store and see workers tatted from head to toe. Tattoos should never say “I’m professional.” Tattoos should say “I’m creative, I go against the norm.” By all means, get tattoos no matter what career you choose, but when you’re on the job, I want to be able to look at you and tell the difference between whether you’re more by the book or more out there. There’s certain places where being more straight laced is preferable, and there are some places where it’s far better to be creative. Coming from someone with tattoos, I don’t want people to think that it’s appropriate for tattoos to be visible in every single field of work. No one should ever be discriminated against for having tattoos, but people who get tattoos need to get them knowing that there are times and places to show them off and times to cover them. I want tattoos to maintain their fringe appeal, and I can’t be the only person who feels that way. Is there anyone else who thinks that “normalizing tattoos” will kind ruin the point of having them? I wanna hear your thoughts, guys 
Thats all a view through a narrow social scope…if we lived elsewhere to not have tattoos means you have done nothing in life that was noteworthy…
bahaha
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I haven’t done anything noteworthy, it’s true. But my biggest dream in life before I developed sz was to go to medical school and I fully expected to have to cover my tattoos if I was a doctor and I understand why I would be expected to cover my tattoos. I would never think it’s unreasonable for a doctor to have to cover up tattoos. But my fast food job needs to stop telling me to cover my tattoos. Cashier is not a serious job.
I agree and your user name and avatar make me laugh everytime…
Hahaha yay! I’m glad you get the reference South Park ftw
Oh yea i forgot part…if i go to a doc no i dont him to be mike tyson with his funny voice and face tat…but if i go to a witch doctor or budhist kung fu master yea they can have tats anywhere they want…
I remember in the 70s when only people that wanted to be marked as outsiders got tattoos. The few palors were in the bad parts of towns. If you got one you were limiting your career choices to stripper or biker.
I have to say some of them can be quite pretty. But they are forever. Many have to pay later to get them covered or removed.
What may seem a good idea at 20 something may become a painful reminder of choices made at the time. You will be a different person in 20 more years. Keep the happy memories and forget the rest.
Many people in the navy get tattoos, too.
I couldn’t agree more! I was so careful when choosing my tattoos. I looked them up religiously to make sure they didn’t have some nefarious underlying meaning. I didn’t wanna get a beautiful scripted “S” on my ankle for my name “Sarah” and find out later that it was some kind of satanic allusion lol that being said, I definitely did get my tattoos intending for them to mark me as a nonconformist. I don’t ever want people to look at me and assume I’m just like everyone else. I want people to say the instant they see me, “I can tell you’re one of a kind.”
Yeah lots of people serving in the armed forces get tattoos. I don’t think they should have to cover them because, even though the armed forces are extremely serious, they’re not the same kind of serious as lawyers or doctors. The armed forces are a very unique kind of serious, and they should be seen as professional regardless of their physical appearance. I feel like risking your life for your country should remove any question of how professional or serious you are.
Guess what? When middle-aged moms with muffin-tops are getting tatted up, that means they’ve been normalized. Also means they’re no longer ‘cool’ (I mean, no one’s parents are cool - we all know this).
I’ve met middle-aged women who have tattoos. Get your facts straight.
Yeah honestly I don’t understand why people would get tattoos when they’re more than halfway through their life. I mean it’s their body so it’s their choice and there’s nothing wrong with it, I just don’t personally understand it. I got my tattoos young because I want to enjoy the artistry that went into them while my body is in good shape. I feel like if you wait to get them until you have crepey skin or wrinkles it kinda ruins the whole point of a tattoo because the art just plain won’t look as good
Yeah I don’t think it’s wrong for older people to get tattoos, I just don’t understand it because I think that if your skin isn’t in the shape it used to be in, the artistry of the tattoo won’t shine as much
These women did get them when they were young.
I can’t get tattoos because I’m afraid one day I might be delusional and try to tear them off. I just know I would try to remove it by myself if I ever got delusional but I like tattoos.
Tattoos have already been normalized too late for that 
one day the tattoo craze will slowly fade (pun intended)
See that I totally understand because then they had the tattoo when their skin was youthful and the quality of the tattoo would be the best. I think @shutterbug was talking about people who don’t get tattoos until they’re middle aged, either because they’re having some kind of midlife crisis and want to look younger or because they just don’t understand that getting tattoos when you’re older will affect how it looks on your skin. But like I said, if they want tattoos, that’s their choice. As long as they don’t regret getting them!
I don’t get tattoos cuz they’re not me…you say they give you individuality…I feel that can be true but for me tattoos would take away from my individuality. Everybody’s different though.