I GIVE UP.

Okay family, I give up. I can't answer one more of these teenager wanting tattoo posts. These kids are just too smart for me. I'm gonna have to just leave it to you guys if you feel like dealing with this stuff. It gets me too worked up. And I don't know why it should... I mean this stuff has been going on for probably only about 10,000 years. Somewhere back in Mesopotamia there was a teenage kid and his dad is telling him not to stick his head in Nebukkadnezzar's mouth, and the teenage kid is telling his dad "You don't know anything, and you definitely don't know anything about me, and besides I'm different than all the other teenagers that have stuck their head in Nebukkadnezzar's mouth, I'm much smarter and more mature, and besides there are some adults that are dumber than some teenagers that stick their head in Nebukkadnezar's mouth and anyway you don't live in the modern world!! It's my RIGHT to stick my head in Nebukkadnezzar's mouth if I want to, and you can't stop me, and besides you are dumb and old and don't know anything about the modern world". "Like Dad, go stick a Ziggaraut up your ass, cause like I know everything, and I'm gonna do what I want." So, his sticks his head in Nebukkadnezzar's mouth, and his head gets covered in flame, it charcoals his ears off, and that's it. Human Evolution. Fast foreward. Somewhere back in Ancient Egypt there was a teenage kid and his dad is telling him not to stick his head in Anubis's mouth.... Who am I to fight Human Evolution? I'll stick to working on my own daughters. Though no matter what I do, I'll probably be hearing in a few years "You don't know anything, and you definitely don't know anything about me, and besides I'm different than all the other teenagers that have stuck their head in a computer disk drive... Human Evolution...

I just let you pals Melissa and Shawn of the Dead in on the fact that we old motherfuckers knew we were old when opinions of 20 year olds no longer held any weight. Give it up buddy..........................................save that resolve for when you really need it! TCE

Daddy Rose, You had me rolling on the floor, soymilk & cheerios spraying out of my nostrils! That was fantastic! My daughters only 5 and I'm already looking forward to the drama to come! It can be no other way...

Yeah, mines going on 3, couple of weeks ago she colored her stomach with markers and said "look mommy, tattoo!" I mean what can I say I'm coverd from neck to feet, shit tattoo was the 3rd word she learned. Shes really going to hate me I won't let her get her ears pierced till she ten, and then she has to come sit in my shop and have it done, no gun, surgical steel only!

She could totally go the other way too. Her act of rebellion could be to be ultra conservative, snarl at your tattoos, and climb the corporate ladder...you never can tell....well almost never...A kid raised around tattoos could get it out of her system and not be obsessed by it like a kid who sees it as taboo...forbidden things are often more attractive. at the least she'll become more aware of the fickleness of what tattoo she wants on any given week...I've had debates with people about things like ear piercings, tattoos, etc. I personally think it's a great idea to wait as long as possible as a parental bargaining chip...if the kid's ears were pierced as a baby, what do you negotiate over at 10,13,etc...There are precious few true rites of passage in our vanilla society...Most are government sponsored...Driver's licence at 16, voting 18, Drinking 18-21 depending upon location... I think ear piercing is a way underappreciated opportunity for a shared experience between parent and child...and an opportunity for the kid to understand the concept of consequences...you want pierced ears, it hurts and costs money. This is a life sharing opportunity a lot of parents pass up. ..parenting can be such a fantastic trip if one bothers!

Hi Everyone, Growing up in the tattoo industry(my daddy is Taz) it never fails to amaze me when u tell kids not to get tattoos. I have realized you can talk until you are blue in the face and they will still do what they want. I have two issues with this. 1. you will have a crappy tattoo and 2. my biggest issue is that kids dont understand you can get a tattoo covered but you will never get rid of A.I.D.s. To me it is a health issue. As a parent if my child came home with a tattoo at 14 I as well as grandpa (Taz) would hit the roof. Kids sould think about the real health risk they are taking just to get a kanji at 14.

Caribou.............................Good point!!! If it's something the parents this is cool, teenagers will almost certainly run the other way!!!! TCE

............."THINK is cool".................Jeez!

Tell me 'bout it, brothers! I've been TRYING for years, occasionally sucessfully but far more often you can tell by the look in their eye or expression, they are NOT going to listen/hear you-you may as well try to reason with a glass of water. And I speak from expierence, in that I have/had tattoos I got when I was younger, didn't put the needed thought into, etc., but even then ,most of these little farts ain't hearing ya, their tuned out to anything that opposes what they want. And, like many, I see the tattoos they get, frequently in my studio to have covered up and even more almost everywhere I go (it's summer, seeing a lot of skin) And some of the shit I see on some of these young woman just piss me off, a little cutie with a shitty tattoo on her forearm or neck-can't help but wonder how much THAT will help her future job hunting. Most of it is 'homemade' but some of it done by so-called professional who I would have thought I should know/care more, but most of them are in it for the bucks, not for any Love, let alone RESPECT for the ART.I too doubt I'll participate in any 'online discussions with these kids, why bother, as stated, they ain't gonna listen. Defer 'em to 'past posts' and save a lot of wasted time. Sad part is, some will not only have a shit or regretted tattoo, some of these know it alls are also gonna have diseases resulting from same. Fuck, was I ever THAT young but I gonna admit, I was a fuck up, I didn't listen much either but long ago I started wishing I HAD, could have of avoided some of these 'life lessons' I had to learn the hard way. Another serious aspect I haven't seen much about, what about the asshole parents that are even are willing to sign for it? A perfect example of that: a few months back I had a kid and his dad come in, stating when he had called my studio whoever answered the phone told him he had to be 18 or have a parent wriiten consent signed in the Studio . So they come in, kid says he was only 16 but his dad was going to 'co-sign. They have a seat, I ask the kid what he's got in mind, dad pipes up 'he wants a marijuana leaf on his outer left forearm' and I asked him 'and you're willing to sign for that', 'that's what he wants' I told him 'he's only 16, he's entitled to be stupid, what the fuck is your excuse', he stared at me for a few, I stared him right back, he got up and they left. Fuking Moron, what the hell was he (dad) even thinking? I did not give a flying fuck if I'd 'offended' him, he'd already offended ME but was too stupid to realize it and almost wish he'd tried to swing, I'm 60 but I can still trash an asshole (takes a few more punches now, but gets the job done when nec.) fortunately, I don't get much of THAT, I'm in a little better area. I've had parents in here I almost wanted to slap some sense into but of coures we can't do that. Hell, I don't know the 'solution' if there is one but it do get frustrating, that I grant ya...Doc

Amen Doc. But what the fuck do I know. I'm old.

Ok AL...You are pissin my daughter off!!!...Here is her take on it.....If we keep One kid from getting ONE bad tattoo or a disease for that matter....or if we make one tattoo hack rethink things and start doing things as they should be done then in her mind we are fuckin heroes and all the preachin and bitchin and cussin we have done on here is worth it!...Make sense to you pal?...Does to me!!

I will even give you a for instance...a few months back there was this annoying dude posting on here about not being able to get an apprenticeship and this and that....well now, instead of doing hack work from his house, he bit the bullet and got himself in a shop and is now tattooing every fuckin day and livin the life!!....And its because of US!!!!!...He will tell ya so....I mean I am not here to get any acclaim ot anything even remotely like that but Tattooing has been VERY good to me and I feel like its my duty to try to help those who come with respect and humility...I think I do ok....And its the same for you Al....even though some of the people we talk to seem like they aren't listening to a word...there are a whole fuggin bunch of "silent readers" out there who never post but they are takin it all in my friend...I am not sure you realize just how many regular readers this forum has.....Don't give up on em Al....You have a lot of damn fine ideas in that little pointy head of yours!! THINK ABOUT IT!!!!!.............................TAz

He won't really give up.........................it's not in his nature. He's a father, and he's got that instinct. Furthermore, he's a teacher, and it's routine for him to emphasize, and re-emphasize shit over and over, till he's blue in the face!!!! Come on Robert Conrad, I dare you, I double dare you!!!!!!!! TCE

Like my Gramps use to say..."Ya tell em what you are gonna tell em...then you tell em, then ya tell em what ya just told em....If that don't work ya start over and keep startin over til it DOES work!!!"

Allright you fuckers... just to spite you, and just because TCE is right... It's just not in my nature to quit. Damnit. Fine! Bring it!! By the way, what happened to Melissa and Shaun? You're not gonna get to be a regular by making a big stink, calling out some old dummies and then slinking off to your hole.... c'mon back babies. We're sorry we hurt your feelings.... here chick chick chick chick.......

They're off consoling each other.............convincing themselves that they TOLD US!!!! Actually, I think Melissa popped up to patch things up on another thread this morning, so kudos to her...................But Al, don't take them batteries down from you shoulder's just yet, they're are plenty more still to deal with. TAz, that grampee story is frickin' hilarious! TCE

I have relpied, to the original thread :)

Keep fighting the fight, Daddy Rose. You know you will anyway. It doesn't matter if the kids don't listen; what's important is that you... er, WE... offer the benefits of our experience, and leave it to the listener to make their own decisions. I know it's cold comfort to end up having to say "i told you so", but, if we do it with love...

Rasclarke, You damn Jamaican's are all about the love, aren't you, you sexy, hairy, tattooed, tanned, wild man, you!! See, now I can't let my girl go down there with her friends (fingers crossed), can I? LOL!! TCE

Well yeah except ol Ras ... HE AIN"T GOT NO HAIR!!! He is as bald as I am!!!! His pic will be on the family site soon/// RAS....I bumped up the Family post for ya and I sent your pic to Baker to post for ya!!! Welcom pal!!!

Ras, you from Jamaica mon? How cool is that! Welcome! So glad to meet you! I have a hysterical story about these friends of mine who were southern rednecks from Savannah, Georgia and they wanted to take a trip down to Jamaica because they figured they could go down to Kingston and "Smoke a spliff" with the people because they were really into weed. So, they figured that their love of weed would "bond" them to the Jamaican people, and they'd all be hangin' down in Kingston, honkin' on a moosekiller and singing Bob Marley tunes together.... Just them (they were so white, those little marshmallows had nothing on them) in their little Hawaiian shirts and shorts, and 5,000 dollar watches, and their peeps down in Kingston. They weren't going to go to Ocho Rios, or any of those tourist places, they were gonna go see if they could have somebody put them up in Kingston. So, long story short, we managed to talk them out of it... Seemed rather... uh... condescending little venture on their part... but I've always wondered... What exactly WOULD have happened to them if they HAD made it!!!??? Now, I know that the Jamaican people are among the most hospitable people in the world, but with their attitude, I just had to laugh.... Anyway, good to meet you Brutha!

Al, Now, I don't know this first hand...................but I've heard that whitey don't want to wander too far from the Sandals resort...........like, on the other side of the fence!! Your buddies probably would have been coming back with $5000.00 watch tan lines!! TCE

"Keep fighting the fight, Daddy Rose. You know you will anyway. It doesn't matter if the kids don't listen; what's important is that you... er, WE... offer the benefits of our experience, and leave it to the listener to make their own decisions. I know it's cold comfort to end up having to say "i told you so", but, if we do it with love... " I have taken on board everything that everyone has said and have also said, that i agree with alot of it :) Have a bit more faith that you wont be saying "i told you so" x

Sorry i took so long, Daddy R. What would have happened to your mates? Probably nothing. We can be surprisingly tolerant of anybody who comes to visit Mary Jane. If, however, they were ever to provoke a discussion on religion, politcs or - God forbid - race, they might be in for a bad time. Orrr... they may have gained a new appreciation for non-rednecks, you never know. Allow me a "Tourist Board" moment: if it's sand, sea, sun and smoke, nothing wrong with Ocho Rios or Montego Bay, the more established resort towns. Negril might be more suitable to bohemian tastes: it's got nude beaches, rent-a-dreads, and no building can be taller than the tallest tree. And sunsets that rival california. If anybody wants to visit Kingston, especially someone of fair hue who hasn't had much exposure to we the dark, email me first and i'll be glad to host and guide, especially if they like motorcycles. There isn't much "activity" in Kingston, and the good beaches are an hour away. If you like liming (hanging out, bumming around) Kingston is fine, but it's good to know where to hang, what the ACTUAL price is for anything, and a couple choice Jamaican interjections should be part of your vocabularic armour. You will hear that we have a high rate of crime, but it's worth considering that over 95% of the victims are locals, and most of the others were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I don't give a rats ass trying to change the mind of a young teen. I'll save my energy for my daughter and her friends when they're old enough. If the "worst" thing a teen does nowadays is get a tattoo then GO FOR IT!

that's like saying "if the 'worst' thing a kid is gonna do today is have unprotected sex, GO FOR IT!" do you think before you speak? i mean, sometimes you say really smart things, then you say somethin like that

Ducky, allow me to essay a paraphrase on mamacat's behalf: 'If the "worst" kids today will do is get a tattoo (instead of, say, having unprotected sex, robbing shops, shooting street heroin, beating up the homeless or drag-racing on public streets), then GO FOR IT!" Am i in the right litterbox, mama?

reguardless, it's just as dagerous

*dangerous*