I had to laugh at the earlier description of the natural food worker with the arms full of tattoos. That could have been my son-in-law. He is a grocery manager at a health foods store. He is very health conscious and has nonetheless chosen to get full "sleeves" tattooed on his body. When I first met him I had to make a conscious effort not to be distracted by his body art. I eventually got over my first impression and have come to love Mark for the sweet, intelligent person he is.

For the record: I'm over 55 and I still love my tattoos. I have two or four tattoos, depending on how you are counting. That is because one of them consists of three stars in the configuration of the constellation, Aries, which I got to commemorate my March born daughter's 18th birthday.

The other tattoo (my first) I got for my 33rd birthday. Ano de Christo (the age of Christ at death). I had a white rose tattooed on my right shoulder. The white rose was meant to commemorate a group of German students, professors and soldiers who were organizing against Hitler. In 1942, they were arrested, tried and beheaded for disseminating leaflets denouncing national socialism. I feel very strongly about my life as an anti-war activist and wanted something permanent to remind me of why I do what I do.

My mother's reaction when she saw my white rose was to ask me why I wanted to be part of a lampshade.

I am concerned about the long term health effects of my son-in-law's extensive tattoo work. Tattoos are scars and as such, do not breathe. I have read reports that people with a lot of tattoo work experience a significant decrease in life expectancy. I had not previously read about the auto-immune connection referred to in "FC"'s post above. I will definitely give that some research attention.

My son-in-law certainly helped me to face my own prejudices and I'm grateful for that. All in all, I feel that our bodies are our own to decorate as we see fit. We are the ultimate canvas. Some folks grow their hair long, some cut it short, some dye it blue, some get pierced, some grow mustaches and beards. It's all good.

I'm more concerned about what is inside of a person's mind and heart than I am about what they are wearing over their skin or under it.

Off now to google "tattoos"+"auto-immunity".
Peace to you, inked or not,
Joyce