The Tattoo Thing..

I missed the memo. I'm not sure exactly WHEN we decided that tattoo's were sexier than bare skin. I saw a guy running to catch a bus the other day with big empty star-shapes on his arm (one of the girls watching him -- tattoo's on her chest and belly -- said that stars were 'ghetto'. As apparently torso tattoo's were not). I've seen the obligatory Chinese symbols and even long quotations on mid-sections. The pictures and sayings on necks, wrists, the LOVE/HATE knuckle thing. You can't even see a woman in a skirt anymore without a flower tattoo following close at her heels. Is it me? Years ago we thought tattoo's were for guys working in garages, Army personnel, sailors and Hell's Angels. Now they're so common that they're -- well, common. One saleslady I met has a giant bolt through her mouth, a clip on her eyebrow and lip. Middle-aged women go through catalogs to choose their next tattoo. 'Oh i like that," said one recently about a flower motif. "But do you know what I want to get?" Sorry. Call me old school but I'll always maintain that plain old skin -in whatever incarnation or age - is miles sexier than ink any day. Besides, if everyone has the same thing, doesn't that make it cliche? ******** more from this writer on Amazon, Smashword, and whereever ebooks are sold...