Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Seeing stars

We like tattoos. We definitely feel that personal images etched into the skin have a place, and, in many ways, tattoos allow people to express things without using words. Sure, there are times where we see tattoos that make us cringe, and other body modification doesn't make a lot of sense to us, but we definitely support the right for people to make those decisions and make those changes.

But that doesn't mean that we aren't going to be willing to make fun of someone who's done something silly. Like getting a few stars tattooed onto their face.

Of course, in this case, the person ended up with over fifty stars, after claiming that they only requested three. They also claim that they fell asleep during the tattooing, and woke up to something resembling a galaxy imprinted into their skin. So, as is the natural turn of events, the woman is now suing her tattoo artist.

Here's the thing, though. We know that everyone's different, but we've talked to quite a few people that have tattoos, and the most common response tends to be that any area that's closer to bone tends to be more sensitive. Given that much of the face tends to be very close to the skull, especially around an eyebrow ridge, it would lend belief to the idea that this area would definitely spike pain higher. If the woman honestly was able to fall asleep through the procedure, what with the buzzing near her ear and the repeat stabbings of needles into her face, then she should be commended for being able to sleep through anything. And she may actually have an argument that the facial art may jeopardize future opportunities for her.

But, well, any facial ink tends to do that. Even three stars, which she claims was her order, is enough to put potential employers, love interests, and random passersby, off from the idea of getting to know the person underneath. So while we can see her argument, and are not horribly surprised that she's suing, we also don't think she has much of a leg to stand on.

Now, if the tattoo artist had linked the stars to make constellations, there might be a different story here.

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