Tattoo gone wrong: Stars and gripes forever?

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – A Belgian teenager has told police how she emerged from a tattoo parlor with 56 stars over one side of her face, rather than the three she had asked for, prosecutors said on Tuesday.

“I said this part, the top, is ok, but not the rest,” Kimberley Vlaeminck from the city of Kortrijk, 90 km (56 miles) northwest of Brussels, told Belgian broadcaster VRT. The 18-year-old said she fell asleep during the procedure, and woke up in pain when her nose was being tattooed.

Tattoos are a hell of a lot of fun. I have two of them, but they are certainly not somewhere stupid, like on my face.

My first tattoo is on my right calf. It was done in June of 2002. I debated for a year before I actually had it done.

My second tattoo was done in May of 2007. I saw some artwork in the tattoo shop, fell in love with it, told Al how much I wanted to have it done, he said how much he wanted to do it, and a few weeks later I had another tattoo. (This picture really does not do the amount of detail in this piece any justice at all)

Both of these were done by Al Sully at Wee Bee Lost Tribe on Dudley Ave in Parkersburg, WV. I wouldn’t feel right posting pics of them without saying that. He does amazing work and I will NEVER go to anyone else for a tattoo. Even if I were to leave the area, I would come back and only have him do the work. Since they don’t have a web page, Yahoo is about the only place I could find a link to them: Wee Bee Lost Tribe, Parkersburg, WV : Reviews and maps – Yahoo! Local.

Now, the thing about both of my tattoos is, if I want to show them off, I can. If I want to hide them, I can do so very easily. I have never understood why anyone in their right mind would want to get a tattoo on their face, especially not across their forehead. That is just plain ludicrous.

Despite what everyone says about appearances not mattering when first meeting someone, the fact is, 55% of your first impression of another human being is based entirely on appearance. What does having only 3 stars tattooed across your forehead say to anyone you meet for the first time? I do realize that she is not American, and we, for some reason, tend to be a bunch of prudes, but there are still plenty members of older generations that you have never met and will meet for the first time at some point life, including (most importantly), people who hire you for jobs. The girl is 18, and therefore an adult by most standards across the world, but really she should have definitely sat down and thought through this before even considering a face tattoo.

The other thing, how on earth do you fall asleep while getting a tattoo on your face? If you have a tattoo anywhere on your body, then you know that it does a wee bit more than tickle a little bit. I am not saying that the pain is anything outrageous, but you have to seriously be out of it if you can fall asleep while a needle is ramming into your skin a few thousand times a minute.

In short, think before you act. There is only one person responsible for your actions, and that is you. This silly girl’s stupid idea of suing the tattoo artist for her own idiocy is nothing short of outrageous.