ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, May 16, 1996 TAG: 9605160114
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: OFF THE CLOCK
SOURCE: CHRIS HENSON
My neighbor Steven is 21. He has four large Chinese symbols tattooed down the outside of his lower left leg. He found the symbols on a menu at a Chinese takeout place. And now, for the rest of his life, Steven will have "pork fried rice" emblazoned on his shin.
This makes me feel incredibly old.
These days tattoos are finding their way under younger skin more often. One friend of mine, a local high school teacher, noted with more than a hint of dismay that many of this year's graduating seniors are considering tattoos to celebrate commencement.
To me this sounds much more uncomfortable than trying to keep that tassel out of your mouth during the valedictorian's address.
Some of my younger friends (median age 18) say that checking out the local tattoo parlors, to purchase or just to peruse, has become a popular pastime with some of their peers. The artwork is cool, they say. Tattooed or not, they want to remain anonymous so as not to startle their parents.
"Used to be like one or two kids at school had them,'' one high school senior said of tattoos. "Now lots of them do."
She and her friends assure me that most kids are still running around tattoo-free.
"I mean, I don't have any tattoos now," a junior piped in. "But I'm thinking about getting one. Something pretty."
The senior swears she will remain tattooless. "I might want one now, but how am I going to feel about it 20 years from now?"
As she spoke, a 22-year-old pulled up his shirt to reveal a 6-inch, tribal-looking eye tattooed across his back. "It cost me 10 bucks," he said. "The guy was still learning how to do them. I was sort of a guinea pig."
They say they also know a girl who has a bag of Fritos tattooed on her shoulder.
Yet they all seem to agree that tattooing is a temporary fad, the results of which are more or less permanent. ``I think the next big fad is going to be tattoo removal,'' the senior said. (That could be a painful fad, one that could end up costing lots more than the tattoo itself.)
Aaron Cooper, who has five years' experience at Mystic Tattoo on U.S. 460, says he's seen the business grow. The number of kids he's tattooed has grown with it. "We have rules about that," he says. "We don't do anyone under the age of 18 without a parent here to supervise." The youngest person he's ever tattooed was 15, he said.
Getting a tattoo these days is much safer than it used to be. "The technology has really improved," Cooper said. "That makes the artwork better, too." Cooper stresses that tattooing needles are thrown away after each use.
There's a $30 minimum at Mystic Tattoo. ``That's for what we call `bubble gum' tattoos,'' Cooper said. Those are the simple hearts, the li'l devils, skulls, unicorns, roses, etc., usually less than two inches in diameter. ``The bigger work can get into the hundreds of dollars,'' he added.
Cooper's first client ever was a cousin. ``I was probably more nervous than he was,'' he said. ``It was a Grateful Dead skull thing. I was sort of shaking, but it came out half-decent.''
My neighbor, Steven, has five other tattoos on his body, not counting the pork. His collection includes a ``Mayan'' symbol on his arm. Our conversation went like this:
``Chris, check out my new tattoo.''
``Gross. What is it?''
``It's Mayan.''
``I should hope it's yours, it's on your arm!''
``No, man, it's like the Mayan Indians.''
``Oh, OK.''
I grew up knowing there were only two things I could do that would kill my mother instantly. One was ride a motorcycle. The other was get a tattoo. (It was common knowledge then that the Hell's Angels were committing group matricide by engaging in both activities at once.)
But recently, Steven suggested that I figure out what means the most to me and get it inked somewhere on my body.
I explained to him that if I got a tattoo every time I was fanatical about something, I'd have ``Kansas'' printed on my arm and ``Jethro Tull'' on my forehead. I haven't listened to either band in 15 years.
Today my wife and I would probably get matching 7-Eleven Slurpee logos on our fannies. They seem to be our only obsession.
But maybe I should at least consider a tattoo, just to stay young. I could get ``OK'' scrawled permanently on the back of my hand. That way I could always get into the Iroquois and hear bands for free.
With my luck Jethro Tull would be playing.
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