Why do people go overboard on tattoos?

[Swirls]

On the "classy tattoo" topic, over 4th of July the wife and I were buying some fireworks at one of those big temporary tents in an unused area of a large mall parking lot. We picked out our stuff and were in the middle of checking out at the register, and I saw the cashier had letters tattooed on each finger between the knuckles. Most of the time I've seen people tattoo F-A-T-E or other silly four-letter words on there. This guy's phrase extended across both hands... F-*-C-K on one hand and Y-A-L-L on the other. Real classy.

What is odd is that he wasn't covered in other tattoos. He had a couple other ones on his arms, but no full-length sleeve tattoos, and nothing on his chest or neck. Relatively few piercings.

So why on Earth would you tattoo that [expletive] on your fingers so it is completely visible at all times unless you're wearing gloves? A simple long-sleeve shirt would hide all of the other ink you have, so you could still hold a professional desk job and not look like an outcast. But nope, not now.

[IMADreamer]

Not trying to raise a stink here because I don't think people consider it much. White trash is kind of a backhanded racist comment. As if you have to find a way to distinguish the "bad" whites from the rest who are presumably inherently good. The implication is you don't need to make this distinction for other races.

Other issue is that tattoos are ubiquitous across race and socioeconomic groups. So it's a problematic term to use and not actually even relevant to who is tattooed and who isn't.

Yes Tatoos are ubiquitous across race and socioeconomic groups. I'm not talking about a soccer mom getting a butterfly on her back or a bro getting sleeve. That's a different psychology all together. I'm talking about a very specific economic class of people who get poorly done, poorly placed, and sometimes highly questionable tats on parts of their body they can't and won't cover up forever hurting their chances at leaving the socioeconomic group they are in.

[Swirls]

Also, this girl went to the same high school as my wife. She's (I think) one or two years older than Mrs. Swirls.

[thrill]

Not trying to raise a stink here because I don't think people consider it much. White trash is kind of a backhanded racist comment. As if you have to find a way to distinguish the "bad" whites from the rest who are presumably inherently good. The implication is you don't need to make this distinction for other races.

Other issue is that tattoos are ubiquitous across race and socioeconomic groups. So it's a problematic term to use and not actually even relevant to who is tattooed and who isn't.

Yes Tatoos are ubiquitous across race and socioeconomic groups. I'm not talking about a soccer mom getting a butterfly on her back or a bro getting sleeve. That's a different psychology all together. I'm talking about a very specific economic class of people who get poorly done, poorly placed, and sometimes highly questionable tats on parts of their body they can't and won't cover up forever hurting their chances at leaving the socioeconomic group they are in.

Without getting into labels, I'd say that, as has been alluded to earlier in the thread, the bad tattoos are probably a small sampling of the bad decisions being made in their life.

[Fat_Bulldog]

I have much of my right arm covered in a tattoo and a portion of my left arm covered too.

I grew up poor and have never received any assistance in my life. In fact, since I was 18, I have been on my own and supported myself. I supported my disabled mother from the time I was 18 as well. I paid for all of my vehicles, worked and paid my way through school twice (all while supporting my mom too), all while being white trash.

Instead of supporting my mom, I should have bought a corvette to avoid such white trashiness.

[Molly]

My manager has sleeves of tattoos that end at a golf shirt. His whole body is covered. This guy is 48. He still gets them.

I'm getting this on my ankle in October. 63rd birthday!

[thrill]

My mom was at least 50 when she got her first tat.

[lukethedrifter]

My manager has sleeves of tattoos that end at a golf shirt. His whole body is covered. This guy is 48. He still gets them.

I'm getting this on my ankle in October. 63rd birthday!

significantly increases your odds of that tat still looking good at 65

[ghostrunner]

It just occurred to me to wonder if anyone has gotten a Trump stamp yet.

[IMADreamer]

It just occurred to me to wonder if anyone has gotten a Trump stamp yet.

Guarantee it. Although his key demographic might already be completely covered head to toe.