Sharp edges and curves that cover my left shoulder People have many different views on tattooing. They get tattoos for many different reasons, but I have always thought tattoos are career destroyers. Most people get them for artistic expression, while others for rebellious or career reasons. I don’t have any tattoos because I felt they would hurt my ability to move upward in my career. Because they are typically viewed in certain careers as unprofessional. My main reasons for not allowing him not to get a tattoo were; too young, too expensive, and would be something permanent that could keep him from moving forward in career choose. I have always looked at people with tattoos as members of gangs or biker. So, I had a discussion about tattoos with my son. At that time, he was only fourteen years old and I felt very strongly about my reasons for why he shouldn’t have one. After talking to my son, I had a conversation about tattoos with my wife where we talked about how looking professional is huge when it comes to the corporate world. She had told me about a time when her Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and some of his directors came down for a visit. She said that before they had arrived they were told to dress very professional for the visit. She also said during the visit the CEO had made a comment that he had never seen so many employees with visible tattoos. This is one of my points that first impressions mean a lot. The corporate world expects its employees to look professional at all times and in this case it seems that tattoos that are visible should be covered in the workplace. After speaking with my supervisor he stated where I was employed having tattoos would not prevent him from hiring that individual. One evening at the gym, I had another conversation about tattoos with a guy I was working out with. I noticed he had tattoos that covered his arms and legs. I said to myself, I bet it was painful getting them and he’s going to have a tough time finding work because of where the tattoos where on his body. So I told him I was doing a paper on tattoos and wanted to know why he had so many and was there any significant to meaning to them. He told me he was Italian and he pointed to his Italian flag on his arm. He said his religious background of his family was Catholic and his father’s name was Michael. So he decided to get St. Michael tattooed on his arm. He also had a tattoo of the Pittsburgh Steelers helmet logo on his leg. We began discussing the rest of this tattoos and why they had value to him. I took that to mean in the end is that if the tattoos mean something to the person with them then that’s all that mattered; however, I had to ask where he worked with so many visible tattoos. He told me he works as a bartender, but had gone to school to be a firefighter and had made it through the first round of hiring cuts. He went on to say as long as the tattoos are in good taste then there are normally no problems being accepted as a firefighter. So it would seem that there are very different views on why people get tattoos. As far as my son is concerned, four years and five tattoos later he has given me a better understanding on his reasons behind getting his tattoos. One, he has explained to me that his career goals are to be in
