Tattoos have been a part of our world longer than people may believe. Tribal tattoos have seem to be the start to all of this “madness” I’ve heard the older generation of today call it. “It’s trash, disrespectful and less people will higher someone with tattoos; as well as piercings.” An older person once said to me; not realizing that I have six of my own tattoos along with 10 piercings. So, is this true? Are all tattoos and piercings really something that leads to less jobs opportunities those who are just expressing their inner thoughts and emotions? Should people be allowed to turn down people for an “inappropriate” placing for tattoo??

You know what, this is crazy!! Discrimination goes on everywhere in this country (United States) – whether it’s human or animal. I say animal too because of everyone’s belief of the pit-bull, Rottweiler or German Sheppard and so many more dogs that are “always aggressive” and you should “fear” them. We all hear that saying you can’t judge a book by its cover because if you do so you are just jumping to conclusions and may be missing out on a huge opportunity.

If we all know that we must first get to know someone before we judge them, then what’s going on with not higher those who are “different”? It’s ridiculous. I understand if someone has a huge swear written down their arm or something offensive towards another race, religion, etc.. But who honestly is going to get something like that who has an ounce of respect for themselves? Sure, you do not want those people working for you but I am talking about in general. The people who have a tongue ring, a surface piercing, a bunch of piercings going down/through their ears, lip piercings, arm tattoos, neck tattoos…etc…are people who express themselves in a different way than those people who do not have those things.

I have got six, one on my wrist, which is a star and another huge start back tattoo. My reasoning for my two star tattoos is because of my favorite quote which I really believe in and that is; although you may not always be able to see the ones you love, they are always going to be there - because just like the stars in the sky, they’re always going to be there…no matter what. I have many reasons for why I represent my body with, as I would say, the sky. I also have a lightening bolt on my ankle that matches my best friend because there is a song that we both like that says; these lines of lightening mean we’re never alone. And no matter how far we get from each other, a part of each other is always going to be with one another. Another tattoo I have matches my birth mother, who lives in Wisconsin. She and I have them in two different spots but it’s the same thing; a horseshoe with a star in the middle. She owns around seven horses and well, I think we all got the thing about stars for me. Now on the top of my feet I have got two tattoos – Peace (right foot) and Love (left foot). I did this because I have always wanted the word love on me somewhere…I wanted to get it on my wrist but because of the older generations thoughts on tattoos I decided it would be best to have it hidden; just like everything else on me except for the small, easy to cover up, star on my left wrist. Now my piercings are pretty much for no reason at all; I got them when I turned 18 – midway through my senior year - so that when I got to college and was applying for jobs I would be able to take them out and they would not close. I love both my “tats” and piercings and no one will ever be able to take that away from me. Only I will when I make the choice too. And although my mother and father may dissaprove of my tongue ring…I love it, I don’t even know why. Maybe it’s a way for me to rebel, maybe it’s just something I like to have for the heck of it! But For some things like this – there’s just no explanation except that it’s something that makes me happy.

Those are my stories about my tattoos and piercings. Now, I am not incredible writer or anything but I love to express myself in very many different ways. I seem to be the typical kid in this generation growing up in that when I am going to do something, it’s going to happen; no questions asked. We are stubborn, have pride for ourselves and we are not going to let some adult tell us that we can’t do something because of the way we look/present ourselves. A tattoo is a piece of art that expresses what’s inside someone; it shows someone’s true emotions and can tell a life story. I’m not sorry to say this at all: it’s time to welcome our new generation.