Getting a tattoo is a major decision. For a lot of people, it is even out of the question. But for those who decide to ink their skin, it is a matter of choosing something you would like to look at for the rest of your life, picking a place that will make sense, and deciding the size and intricacy based on pain level. That being said, choosing a tattoo and a placement is a big deal, especially if this image has a special meaning to the person receiving it. We are fortunate enough to have a lot of freedom with self expression as adults, but this freedom can be easily taken away because of other people. This story is a demonstration of this destruction of freedom.

Being an adult, I decided that I would like to get a tattoo, but in order to do so, I wanted to know everything about what it would be like. This meant asking people about pain, where I should put it on my body, what I should get, and price. I accompanied my sister and mom to a piercing and tattoo shop so that my sister could get her nose pierced, and decided this would be a good time to ask about the price of my tattoo. The shop we went to had been highly rated by friends and family, so we had pretty high expectations. When I asked the receptionist, she offered to find the tattoo artist for me, and returned about five minutes later with a big, burly man, e-cig and Mountain Dew in hand. He set his things down and turned to me, asking what it was that I wanted. I started to explain to him that I was hoping to get my first tattoo, at which point he interrupted me saying "Hun, it is pretty painful." I looked at him for a second, wondering about his condescending tone, but continued in my questions.

"Right, I understand that, thank you. I was just wondering how much it would cost?" I asked him in a very matter-of-fact way. He responded with,

"Well, our shop minimum is $60. What do you want?" Again, he seemed to be brushing me off. I understand that people have bad days and sometimes questions can be annoying, but I had not gotten to the point of my question yet, though I would have if he had not interrupted me twice. I began to explain to this man that I wanted a heart with a sound wave going into the word "faith" in cursive. I offered to pull up a picture, but he again cut me off again, saying,

"I've seen it." He then sighed like he was thinking about how to talk to someone as naive as me. "You should really rethink that," he finally said, "I have given it quite a few times and I want you to think about how many millions of people have that same tattoo. It is common, it is stupid, and it is basic." At this point, I was starting to get angry.

"Yeah, I know, but I have a story behi---" Once again, he interrupted me to say that everyone has a story and that it does not make a difference. If he would have let me continue, I could have explained that my youngest sister has a brain disease, causing her many developmental delays. She is very important to me and honestly one of my best friends, and her middle name is "Faith." The sound wave would be her laugh and faith directly ties to her and my connection with her. This was not just a basic, trendy tattoo for me.

As you can imagine, his responses to my questions made me very angry, and I left that shop without a second thought. I am going to get my tattoo in a place where the artist will not overstep their bounds and tell me that I want a different tattoo. I am not looking for someone who will completely understand or think it is a great idea, but I am looking for someone who will not judge me based on my appearance and will allow me to make my own decisions. After all, it is my body and my mind, therefore it is my decision.