Bad News

by Sue

Yes, it is me, Sue. I promised Phyllis once upon a time I would contribute to his blog, and then only wrote one post. So I guess it is time again. Plus, Phyllis and I were talking the other day about something, and he had plenty to say about it, but claimed he could not post a blog about it. He said at least one person he likes quite a bit might get a little sore.

And, yes, it is bad news for all you inkophiles out there. It is my contention that tattoos are not cool anymore.

Yes, I think they were at some point. It was a practice on the fringe, very cutting edge, very daring. But we have crossed over to a new era. And by my crude calculations more people have them now than don't. I am only going by what I see.

Any trip to your local WalMart will give you all the proof you need. In order to enjoy the savings and convenience of the world's most evil store, you have to sport some ink. A butterfly or other gentle creature on your ankle is fine if you are female, but you can also follow the example of every other 21-year-old girl in the world, and get the good old tramp stamp. If you are a man, go with the Kanji on the calf, bicep, or neck, or go all out and get sleeves.

I can hear tat-nation squawking already. They are telling me how cool people don't get tats like that and how they had their tattoos long ago when it was still cool. Fine, I say, but you make my point: with the WalMart riff-raff clouding the issue, you can see the practice is no longer cool; it is far too common, and, as they say, played.

If that's not enough for you, please consider my next-door neighbors: Their teenage son--the one wearing shorts so low his whole butt would be showing were it not for his colorful underpants, who buzzes around to high school and back in his Nissan Z-something listening to profanity-filled hip-hop or (c)rap or whatever it is called these days--is, like, dude, totally tatted up. So are all his buddies.

Do I need to say anything else?