1. Did it hurt?

No, it felt like marshmallows rubbing up against my skin. A needle was puncturing me anywhere from 50 to 3,000 times a minute, yes it hurt???

2. You know that's going to look weird when you're older.

Oh it is? Thank you for informing me knower of all things. You know YOU'RE going to look weird when you're older.

3. You're such a pretty girl, it's a shame you had to go and tattoo your arm up like that.

This is something an older gentleman said to me at work just the other day. You may have used the word pretty, but that's actually really insulting. It's a shame nobody asked for your opinion.

4. Do you regret it?

No, actually I don't. I wouldn't have gotten it unless I wanted it and I can clearly hear your disapproval of tattoos in the tone of your voice.

5. Do your parents know you got that?

Um, yes they do. Personally, both of my parents have several tattoos themselves. I'm also an adult too and have the liberty of doing what I want. Isn't that crazy?

6. You're never going to be able to get a professional job.

I know several people in the professional working world that maintain jobs with tattoos. There are more people in the world with tattoos now than ever before, which means you can't just exclude them from the workforce. Now I can understand not hiring someone if they have a swastika tattooed on their forehead, otherwise my college degree should earn me a job just as equally as it would anyone else.

7. I can't believe you'd pay money for that.

Once again that's actually really insulting? I can't believe how rude and judgmental you are as a human being.

8. And then comes the jokes...

You know that won't wash off right? Wait, it doesn't?! I had no Idea! Man do I sure wish you had been there to advise me of this before I got it! hahahahHAHA. So funny.

*country accent* Little lady I don't know if you knew this or not, but somebody done wrote all over your arm!

Just in case you were wondering, this is me and that "writing all over my arm" is my tattoo. It's Proverbs 3:5-6 which says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways submit to Him and He will make your paths straight." I went through a really tough couple of years not too long ago and I always kept coming back to these two verses. They just made so much sense to me; reminded me of what was important in my times of doubt and desperation. Their importance to me pushed me to get them tattooed on my arm. Do I regret it? Not one bit.

I understand that some people don't agree with tattoos, maybe that's how they were raised, whatever that's fine. I respect that. But if I have the maturity to respect your opinion you should respect mine as well. We've all heard it a million times, if you don't have anything nice to say, just don't say anything at all.