Tattoo Artists Reveal Which Tattoos They'll Actually Judge You For
[rebelmouse-image 18360769 is_animated_gif=After all, they are artists and are in charge of what's about to go on your body literally for the rest of your life. They'll do it, but they might urge you to reconsider your life choices in the meanwhile.
u/hanisthegreatest was curious about what might spark the judgment:
Tattoo artists of Reddit do you judge people for the tattoos they want to get? If so what was the one you really thought was stupid?
Here were some of the answers.
It All Worked Out
[rebelmouse-image 18360770 is_animated_gif=I try not to judge but I have a difficult time not doing so sometimes.
The most interesting tattoo I've ever done was on a guy who came in wanting the words, "Bridget, I'm sorry. I was wrong. I love you." I would say it was the most dumb tattoo I've ever done, but...well you just have to have the full picture.
The story goes like this: 38-year-old guy was dating and living with his girlfriend of two years. She wanted to get married. He was reluctant because she didn't fit some ideals he had in his head for his long-term partner. They were all superficial things: she was shorter than he liked, and blonde. He preferred brunettes. So she left him. Two months later he realizes he made a huge mistake. The only problem is that she's moved on and is dating someone and has made it clear that she's not interested.
This is when this gentleman comes to get the tattoo that is going to solve all of his problems. He tells me that he's arranged to have dinner with her in a week. He intends to plead for her to come back to him, and when she inevitably doubts his sincerity, he will reveal his tattoo as a sign of his commitment. I try to talk him out of it, but he's an adult, sober, and of seemingly sound mind. I do the tattoo.
Cut to that very next day. It's my off day. I'm at my friend's subdivision pool and I notice this guy who is remarkably attractive. He's also playing around with some of the kids there and I lean over to my friend and inquire as to Hotty McHottypant's identity. She tells me about how he's the new boyfriend of her pretty blonde neighbor who had just gotten out of a long term relationship. Her name? You guessed it. Bridget. In the flesh.
At this point I'm wriggling with the excitement of seeing this girl in person, and the anxiety of having knowledge of what is about to happen to her without being able to reveal it.
Over the next few days, little billboards start popping up around town. "Bridget, I'm sorry. I was wrong. I love you."
We all know how this is going to end. Bridget sees the tattoo, freaks out, and this guy leads the rest of his life with an uncomfortable tattoo.
But that's not what happened!
He has dinner with Bridget. She sees the tattoo, and she completely changes her mind. She breaks up with her boyfriend, gets back together with her ex. And three months later, they get engaged. They have a destination wedding, and are still married today. I know this because I saw both of them at that same pool three and a half months later and they both came over and Bridget gave me a big hug and thanked me. Also, the billboards earlier that month all over town that said, "Bridget, I love you. Will you marry me?" helped tip me off.
And that's my story of how the dumbest tattoo I've ever done ended up being not dumb at all. I wouldn't recommend anyone else trying it though.
It's Just Dull
[rebelmouse-image 18360771 is_animated_gif=I'm a welder, I have a coworker with a Miller logo tattoo. Non-welders, this is the equivalent of an office worker getting a tattoo of the PowerPoint start screen.
Why This Name?
[rebelmouse-image 18360772 is_animated_gif=I particularly enjoy watching the couples that come in and want each other's names or matching tattoos. They always seem like they just hate each other - lots of griping and b-tching, low talking and indecisiveness.
Make Poop
[rebelmouse-image 18345581 is_animated_gif=Not a tattoo artist, but during a regrettable time in my life I hooked up with a guy who had "make poop" tattooed on his knuckles. One word on each hand.
Yup, I'm Scarred Forever Now
[rebelmouse-image 18344987 is_animated_gif=My artist told me a story (one of the only tattoos he ever refused to do) was about this patchy creeper dude walking in the shop and asked for a tattoo of himself, naked, with clown makeup on, with a sock over his junk standing. Probably the most terrible/uncomfortable proposition I could imagine.. dude is probably dead or in prison by now.
A Tip For Surgery
[rebelmouse-image 18348911 is_animated_gif=I've scrubbed into a few amputations. I cant give specifics, but if you ever find yourself in a position where you are going to lose a limb and want to make sure you're getting the best damn medical treatment ever, tattoo something ridiculously stupid in that area. A lot of surgeons I've worked with try to just get through the day, but they will put in 110% if it means preserving a particularly stupid tattoo.
French Fried Ankles
[rebelmouse-image 18346475 is_animated_gif=I wanted to get a potato on my ankle since I was a kid. I'm 34 now and I still want one. I had a tattoo artist flat out refuse because he thought it was stupid. I tried to explain the reference but he wouldn't listen. So I'm pretty sure there was judgement there.
Shoot For The Moon
[rebelmouse-image 18360774 is_animated_gif=I asked an artist which tattoo he loathed to do and he just said, "Stars man, f-cking stars."
Nice Try, Guy
[rebelmouse-image 18360775 is_animated_gif=I had a guy message wanting a portrait of his son, his kid was about 4/5 yrs old in this picture, and he was putting his middle finger up and covering his mouth and nose with this hand. I thought it was different but showed some uniqueness to it so fair enough, I agreed to do it. Before his appointment he asked if I could remove the hand, I explained I can't guess what his mouth and nose look like, he never got back to me with an alternative picture
Star Light, Star Bright
[rebelmouse-image 18360776 is_animated_gif=I was in the chair getting part of my sleeve done when one of the dudes came into the back room and told my tattooist that there was a young woman at the desk who wanted some stars tattooing on her arm. He sighed loudly and told the other guy to tell her that sorry but they'd run out of stars so no can do.
The Fees
[rebelmouse-image 18345360 is_animated_gif=I have two stories.
My boyfriend is the artist so I hear a lot of stories. The two that come up frequently about what tattoos he has judged (at all) are these.
A woman comes in and wants an infinity symbol. Sure. Easy enough. EXCEPT, she wants it made out of other smaller infinity symbols. The artist who did it died a little inside.
This one my boyfriend did (and I was there for this one).
A guy comes in wanting his girlfriends name tattooed on him. Stupid, yet common.
But he wants her name, on his penis.
Her name:
Chastity.
There is a guy walking around with Chastity.
Also, the shop charges a 100 dollar penis holding fee on top of what the tattoo would normal cost.
Think This Through Next Time
[rebelmouse-image 18348500 is_animated_gif=So a buddy of mine is a traveling tattoo artist-- he just travels the world and works as a guest artist at tattoo shops.
So this time he's in Thailand and an older white couple comes in, husband seems to have had a few drinks. Husband wants to have his wife's name tattooed on his genitals. My buddy straight up denies the request (drunk, genitals, etc), but another artist decides to go through with it.
Next day, the couple returns, but they are instead arguing on the way in. Apparently it was a 'if you do it, I'll do it too' kind of agreement, but the wife wants no part of it.
That's No Ladybug....
[rebelmouse-image 18349192 is_animated_gif=A girl I know got a tattoo of a ladybug.
It wasn't a normal ladybug. It was a ladybug with a 5 inch long human penis going down her arm.
Non, Je Regrette Nien
[rebelmouse-image 18360777 is_animated_gif=I judged one girl hard when she came into dad's shop. She had just turns 18 the day before, and wanted three tattoos at once. The first was a hand holding a cigarette, the second said something along the lines of "no regrets" in French, and the third was a lip print on her buttcheek. The irony was lost on nobody
Olive You Too
[rebelmouse-image 18360778 is_animated_gif=Rainy Tuesday, I was an apprentice. Only type of day that we would take walk-ins.
Guy comes in and hems and haws over flash. Finally approaches the counter, eyes sparkling: "I want....an olive."
He got a green manzanilla olive, red pimento and all, the size of a baseball on his bicep. First and only tattoo. We asked why an olive? He said "Welllllllll...I'm dating a woman named Olive. Sorta. But it's kinda going south. But that's okay; I really like olives!"
We judged him to be of less than average intelligence. And taste. But no less awesome.
Barbed Wire?
[rebelmouse-image 18346749 is_animated_gif=We had a guy come in who wanted a pinup girl on his arm, except he wanted the girl to be super fat. He then went on to talk about how much he loved heavier girls.
At one point he looked at the owners daughter who was (I'm guessing) around 250 lbs and said sorry but you're too small for me. I like them heavy.
After some back and forth we came up with a design he liked and we did business.
As long as the artist had some creative license with what they were doing they never actually judged. It was when they had to do that one flash butterfly /again/ or barbed wire that they judged.
And if that is what you REALLY want then cool. Just understand that at least five people in the immediate area have they exact same one.
Pixie Hollow-Head
[rebelmouse-image 18360779 is_animated_gif=One night a pretty drunk dude came into the shop and wanted a tattoo on his arm of tinker bell. Okay, not so bad. And underneath it he wanted the world "my little flirt". Again, a little strange but overall fine. And then, underneath that, he wanted his sister's name... They told him that they don't tattoo drunk people so he left.
Just Be Reasonable
[rebelmouse-image 18356114 is_animated_gif=My husband is a tattoo artist and he doesn't judge anyone unless they're being unreasonable. For example, you cannot expect a tiny tattoo with a ton of detail; it WILL blur together with time and my husband cares about how his work will age. Some dude actually had his sister message him and aggressively ask why he refused his idea. People are dumb and they don't think about the big picture.
Money Lip$
[rebelmouse-image 18348076 is_animated_gif=Not an artist but worked the counter in a couple shops. Someone came in asking for a ghost but like...someone wearing a sheet over themselves type of ghost. Without any of the human parts though. And she wants it filled in. We let her know that it is essentially going to look like a big black blob with the eventual ink blowout and she adamantly disagrees so we did it. Still wonder what that looks like now.
Also some 18 year old girl came in wanting "Prince$$" on her inner lip which was pretty ratchet.
Dating and the search for love and companionship... What a nightmare.
This journey plays out nothing like in the movies.
Every Prince or Princess (or everything in BTW) seems to have a touch of the psycho.
The things people say during what should be simple dinner conversation can leave a dining partner aghast.
Like... do you hear you?
Redditor detroit_michigldan wanted to discuss all the best ways to crash and burn when trying to make a romantic connection. They asked:
"You're on a date and it's going really great. What can another person say to ruin it completely?"
I once had a guy ask me if I was willing to follow him into the woods, depending on the price of the meal.
Yeah. No steak is worth that.
Plans After...
"Thanks for the ride but I have a date with someone else, I figured you wouldn't drive me if you knew I was going on a date with someone else and I really needed a ride."
"Online dating, talked to her for a while, finally got the courage to ask her out and then she said that as we got there."
iareyours
Mirror Image
“'You look just like my wife!'”
catalinachild
"I did have a guy tell me I reminded him of his son. I don’t believe English has a word to adequately describe my feelings at that time."
UnicornMagicRainbow
"That would definitely do it."
chaotica78
Third Wheel
"'Hope you don't mind if my mother joins us.'"
ofsquire
"Actually had a girl do this on a first date because she had anxiety issues. Honestly wasn’t bad except that 90% of the time she was silent and her mom talked over her."
"I didn’t mind that much and wouldn’t have minded trying again when she was more comfortable except that she was let go at the company we worked at and she deleted her social media profiles and she never responded on her number. Ah well."
Seightx
Liar
"'Hey bro aren't you gay? I made out with you last night.'"
"Random dude I've never seen before in front of my (f) date."
JHXC16
Was he lying though?
Filter Issues
"'You looked better on Tinder.'"
waqasnaseem07
"Isn’t it basic knowledge that everybody looks slightly worse than the worst picture you can find?"
no_user_ID_found
The Past
"'My ex used to do that too.'"
xxIvyOF
"Yep. I’ve definitely had two otherwise-decent-guy date-situations sour because the ex-comparisons just would not stop flowing. No woman wants to be seen as interchangeable—I’m not here to perfectly fill that ex-sized hole in your life. Focusing on the present moment and a future we could build together is a courtesy we need to grant each other in earliest dates of dating."
LarkScarlett
Powerless
"'I'm an alpha, you cant handle my top energy.'"
Midnightgay28
"I actually left a dude in the middle of dinner, in part, for saying this. I ordered an Uber under the table while pretending to listen to him. Went to the bathroom, and never came back. That was when I was young. Now I’d just say, 'How about we enjoy this meal in silence, before we head our separate ways.'”
UnicornMagicRainbow
Mommy...
"'Mother says I should be back by 9.'"
"Saying 'mother says' just feels weird."
bunnyrut
"That gives me Norman Bates vibes."
Werewolf_lover20
"'Mother says alligators are aggressive because they have an overabundance of teeth, but lack a toothbrush.'"
sodaextraiceplease
Obvs...
"'If you were going to be murdered, what method would you prefer. Purely hypothetical. Obvs.'"
Specific_Tap7296
If it looks anything like a Dateline NBC episode... RUN!
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Despite the advancement of technology rendering people left to their own devices–literally–to entertain them, there are some leisurely activities that will never go out of style.
Or so you would think.
Do people still knit to pass the time? Are people actively collecting stamps?
It depends on who's asking.
Curious to hear about hobby trends, Redditor gizehgizeh asked:
"What are once popular hobbies that are slowly dying these days?"

Before we've become conditioned to living on our phones, these activities used to keep people occupied.
Before Texting, There Was This
"Letter writing."
– littlekingMT
Literal And Tangible Joy
"Well the internet killed pen pals for sure. I do remember I had a Japanese girl for a penpal maybe back in 2007 or so. I honestly don't remember how it started, pretty sure some website, but that was a fun experience. But now I can just straight up talk to foreign people real time, lol. But yea getting a physical letter that someone took the time to write and mail still is hard to beat feelings wise."
– skyburnsred
Model Trains
"When I was growing up, every town had a model train store in it. Now I have one in region and everything else has to be bought online."
– Hairy_Effective1172
Pretty Rocks
"Don’t see anyone playing marbles anymore, I had an awesome collection in school."
– sheeple85
"I had some marbles as a kid in the 90s. My grandma got them for me and I had no idea what I was supposed to do with them. I always imagined them as a thing kids in the 40s played with."
– Ryoukugan
People Were Moving Canvases
"Paintball has been dying a slow death since 2006. Sad, really."
– hobo_recycler
Before the general population began hating clutter, collecting was once a "thing."
Precious Coins
"Coin collecting... I'm a silver/gold nut and I'm always hunting for precious metal coins. whenever I go into a shop they get all excited because 'no one under 70 collects coins anymore.'"
– ThatFishySmell99
Post It
"Stamp collecting."
– spooky_scully_mulder
"Collecting in general, really. Of course there are still prominent collectors but it's slipped more into enthusiast and niche territory than being a popular hobby that you might expect anyone to have."
– iuytrefdgh436yujhe2
What A Gem
"Rockhounding was immensely popular back in the 1950's and 1960's. Personally, I think it's a fascinating and fulfilling hobby, but when I go to a meeting at a rock and gem club, I'm usually the youngest one in the room by several decades."
– filthy_lucre
People once enjoyed making things.
Admiring The View
"Stained glass. I learned how to make it from my old man, and my junior high art class teacher also taught it. Very few artisans are still around."
– brobeanzhitler
Metal Vocation
"Black smithing."
– kenworth117
"I bought a forge to try. It’s insanely hard work, and crazy expensive. I still haven’t finished a piece."
– DSentvalue
Scrapbooking
"Yeah. I'm watching the arts and crafts stores around me completely uninstalling their racks for specialty paper. Now the only thing they have is mega packs of repeating colors/images. To boot all the inclusions like papercraft/die-cut things, washi tape, scissors, stickers, etc have gotten so expensive I would rather go buy $5 bags at value village to get an assortment of things versus buying anything new. I really, really miss yard sales for the same reasons."
– Phantasmai
I envy people who have jobs that are basically their hobbies.
Not everyone gets paid doing what they actually enjoy and have a profound level of passion for.
If they do, kudos to them.
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When we first meet someone–whether through mutual friends, at school, or in a new work setting–we generally feel people out to determine if they're worth getting to know.
While the process could take time, some people make our jobs much easier after spotting instant red flags.
Curious to hear about our general radar of people, Redditor xxFluffie asked:
"What is something that makes you immediately dislike someone?"

Some people just think they are absolutely hilarious and never realize they're the only ones laughing.
Next In Line
"They laugh about having screwed someone else over. If you think you're not next, well, you'll learn."
– whiznat
Unfunny
"when you mention you don't like a thing and they immediately do that thing 'as a joke.'"
– wayfinder
Playing Devil's Advocate
"Kneejerk contrarians. People who, no matter what you say you like or believe, just have to dismiss it and say they like or think the opposite."
– BubbhaJebus
People who put others down get slammed here.
Bad Parents
"When they treat their kids sh**ty in public. I don't mean handling tantrums, setting a rule, having to hurry to the train etc. I mean perfectly normal-behaved kids getting in trouble for trailing along peacefully, looking at things, asking questions etc."
"If you don't like tiny humans who learn the world, why have them??"
– raxeira-etterath
Public Humiliation
"Treating people sh**ty in public for laughs. Like being rude to service workers because they think it’s funny. Big red flag."
– Ok_Personality_1080
Simply Uncalled For
"Someone who is a d*ck to other people or animals for no reason."
– xebt1000
Those with ulterior motives rubs people the wrong way.
The Scheme
"If they try to get me to join their MLM scheme."
– spazmcgee1
Hard Sell
"A guy I used to be friends with in high school reached out a couple of years after graduating about a business opportunity he wanted my opinion on because 'you've always been smart', then he set up a Skype call and brought some other dude into the call and they started trying to sell me on what was clearly an MLM scheme. The guy went from friend to 'I'm never talking to you again' in a matter of 10 minutes."
– Mental-Afternoon-164
A Timeline
"Good gawd, this! I've had more than one exposure to this abject bullsh**tery..."
- Back in the late 80's/early 90's I was invited to a meeting of literally the OG "Pyramid" where you're recruited to pay in, and then you go out and recruit others to pay in, and the last in line got f'kall.
- In 1995 I had a coworker try to reel me into Amway, which was a hard no.
- In 2000 it was Pampered Chef, though to be fair they did have useful products.
- In 2009 a coworker tried to get me into some stupid video calling service that was obviously stupid from the description. He even got offended when I called bullsh*t.
– Mystical_Cat
Too much ego is a no-go.
I Can Do Better
"Being a b*tch just to stroke their own ego."
"We get it, you can lift 5lbs more than the 12 year old, you don't have to rub it in their face just because you're slightly better"
– Livia_Pivia
Can't Top This
"Oh, you did <story that's been told>? That's nothing! I did <implausible story>.
"I get the whole empathy through relating common experience, and I'm someone who does that (which drives some people crazy on its own), but there's a big different by empathising through common experience, and one-upmanship."
– Tisarwat
Lacking Conversational Etiquette
"Starting to talk over me when I was already talking."
"Stop it you rude, arrogant jerk."
– R33Gtst
If one or more of these traits sound familiar to you, you're not alone.
We don't have time for braggadocios, pyramid-schemers, and conversation interrupters.
And that's just for starters.
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Children tend to believe just about anything they hear.
That there are monsters under your bed, watching too much TV will make your head explode, and silly faces will be permanent if you make them too often.
The sky is truly the limit when it comes to silly things that children will believe.
Some call it naivitée, other's youthful innocence.
But it's hard not to look back with embarrassment on certain things we believed as a child, that today might simply seem dumb.
Redditor Disastrous_Toe_6548 was curious to learn the multitude of silly things people believed when they were children, leading them to ask:
"What's the dumbest thing you believed as a kid?"
Pleading to deaf ears...
"My dad told me he had hearing loss and couldn't hear me if I whined because my pitch would get too high."
"Would completely ignore me until I asked him questions in a normal voice."
"Trusted him implicitly until I was 12 and he yelled at my younger brother for whining."- Tyrion_Stark.
Get it while you can.
"That they took everything off the shelves when the supermarket closed."- fgyfddg.
Silly superstitions.
"My grandfather used to tell me that if I played with the fire, I'd pee the bed."
"I believed him for a while, until I got older."
"I think he was just trying to protect me from the fire."- teddypa1981.
"Rain, rain go away..."
"That if it was raining where I was, it was raining everywhere in the world."- morningshartz.
Age is just a number.
"My parents used to seem really old to me, so much so I believed they grew up like cave people as children, wearing giant leaves for clothes and what not."- Laleena_.
So that's how they're made!
"That smokestacks from the power plant created clouds."- Scaniarix.
An instant cure.
"The sun gives you sunburns, therefore, moonlight should heal them."- velocipeter.
Better safe than sorry.
"Don't drink and drive meant all drinks."
"My dad was super confused when I told him he wasn't allowed to have any soda until we got home."- hulagirlslovetoparty.
Don't believe everything you see on TV.
"There was an episode of Mickey Mouse where Mickey couldn’t reach something at first, so he tried again and somehow his arm was long enough to reach it."
"As a small kid I believed that if I couldn’t reach something, I should just try reaching for it again and my arm would then somehow be long enough to reach it."- That-Dutch-Person.
The miracle of childbirth.
"That babies are pooped out."
"When I was like 7 I was listening to my aunt as she explained that childbirth was pretty intense and painful for her, and I was all solemnly like, 'yeah, sometimes just my poops are painful, I don’t think I could get a baby out' and she went 'um, WHAT?' and her reaction made me realize real quick that I had f*cked up somewhere and I tried to change the subject while my mind was just reeling lol."- thesoundingfurrows.
Oh to be a child again.
And to believe literally everything you're told.
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