Dreaming

I had a dream the other night that upon returning home from a sales trip I discovered that my wife had tattoos all over her body. Her entire arm was covered with a tattoo that looked like a dragon walking through vines with roses hanging from them. She had tattoos of every type on her ankles, legs, arms, head, everywhere. I asked her how much she paid to have all those tattoos put on and she replied that she swapped some pain medication that she was taking for a toothache for them. I woke up in a cold sweat. I wonder why in the world I would dream such a thing.
I’m glad that it was only a dream.

As I travel across the country I see tattoos of everything imaginable.
They are usually complemented with piercings and earrings in the nose, eyelids, eyebrows, forehead, tongue, belly-button, ears and I suppose they have them in places that I don’t like to think about. I wondered out loud to a girl checking me in at a hotel as to why she had pierced her tongue and had elected to put a stud earring through her tongue.
She told me that she did it because of “fashion”. I asked her if it hurt to have it pierced. She said yes, it hurt very much and occasionally she accidentally bites her tongue when eating because of it and that hurts too. You have to pay a very big price for this kind of fashion. Brands are another thing I’m beginning to see more and more of. I think I would prefer to be knocked out if I got a brand. I know from personal experience that tattoos hurt because I had one put on the top of my foot when I was 19 years old. Even though I was several “sheets in the wind” at the time and it happened 34 years ago, I still vividly remember getting that tattoo and I wince when I think about the pain on that tender part of my foot.

Why do people subject themselves to pain and discomfort to get tattoos, brands and piercings? Why would a grown man wear an earring? Because it is fashionable? I got my tattoo because unfortunately I was not thinking clearly at the time and I thought it would be cool. It is embarrassing to me now, especially when I walk around a pool and people stare at a 54 year old man with a daisy tattooed on the top of his foot.
I suppose that my undertaker will get a few laughs when he sees it as well. I would have it removed, but they tell me that it hurts as much as having one put on. I think that people do these things mainly to get attention. Perhaps I’m wrong, but I cannot believe that some of these people think that tattoos, piercings and blue hair actually look good. I think they want attention. If it is attention that they seek, what kind of attention? I think most of the time it is a rebellious type of a thing. Some are macho-oriented like the barbed-wire-around-the-arm-tattoos that football players get, the brands are definitely tough guy stuff all of the way, also the gangs and prison tattoos are likely intended to make them look tough and intimidating.
Ironically many of these tough guys wear earrings too. The bottom line is that they are making a statement about themselves. It definitely is making a statement.

We all make a statement with our appearance. Our dress, hair style, personal hygiene, demeanor, and the way we talk are all good indicators of how we want people to perceive us. I have substantially changed my appearance from what it was in my early days. I no longer have hair down below my shoulders and most days I wear a suit and tie. I’m glad that my tattoo is on my foot where it is hidden from view and not on my arms or face. (I saw a partially bald guy with a spider and web tattooed on his balding forehead the other day, how would you like to attend a Board of Directors meeting looking like that?). I have matured and my rebellious side is (almost) completely buried and dead. I wonder how some of these youngsters will cope with their brands, tattoos, etc. when they reach a point in their lives when their attitudes about things change and they want to change their appearance with it. How do you want to be perceived?

____________________________

Proverbs 15:21
Folly is joy to him who is
destitute of discernment,
But a man of understanding
walks uprightly.