On Dec 20, 12:44*pm, Dave Smith > wrote:
> On 20/12/2010 3:00 PM, Miche wrote:
>
> >> Tattoos and piercings have no health benefit, no cultural mandate in
> >> general US culture (I realize some native tribes mandate it... I'm not
> >> talking about that). For the general public, tattoos and piercings are
> >> "self-expression". And in my opinion, they are nothing more than
> >> permanent disfigurement. You wanna disfigure your body, be my guest,
> >> but don't make me have to look at it.
>
> > Who's holding you down and forcing you to look at tattoos? *Shouldn't
> > your beef be with them rather than the tattooed people?
>
> When someone is exposing them in public you really don't have much
> choice about seeing it.

I work in a store, so I interact with a lot of customers each day.
Most, I have no problem looking at. I do have a trouble with the
larger holes in earlobes, both the kind that have stretchers in them,
and some that are just enlarged because the earrings were too heavy.

The absolute worst was not actually a tattoo or piercing, but a very
recent surgical incision. It was still bloody and covered with clear
tape. It was so hard to help that guy without feeling sick. I do not
do well with holes.

Years ago, I went to visit a friend in the hosital after a car
accident. She flipped back the covers to show me her leg. She had
staples from her thigh to her ankle, and it looked like a zipper. I
had no idea before then that staples were used in skin. I instantly
felt warm and sick. I took off my coat, pulled up a chair, and my
hearing was starting to fade as I sat down. Fortunately, everybody
else was happy chatting, and nobody noticed that I was fading for a
few moments. I sat down just in time and didn't actually pass out. But
it was close.

I do have to be careful sometimes with some of the weird piercings. I
don't want to look offended, but I don't want to look too much
either.

>
> The way I figure it is that if someone gets the number and type of
> tattoos, piercings and other body mutilations to make themselves look
> like freaks, I reserve the right to look and react as if they are
> freaks. *It is not like *a strange skin condition, natural ugliness or
> accidental dismemberment. When you do something that is bound to attract
> attention you have to realize that you won`t always get the positive
> feedback. And let`s face it, the people with the most bizarre tats and
> mutilations are doing it for the shock value.

When I was in college, I was in a philosophy class and a guy walked
by the window with a bright red mohawk about 5 inches long, spiked.
Of course, everybody in the class gawked, and the guy responded by
giving us the finger. We spent the rest of class discussing why
somebody would do something to make themselves stand out in appearance
and then get angry when people react.