What's The Attraction of People With Tattoos?

I attended a function the other day. There were 20 of us, and to start the meeting we each had to stand up and say a little about ourselves, including our pet peeve.

One of the people was a tattoo artist, who also had tattoos running down both of his arms. Probably had them on his neck, too, but I didn't have a chance to see if he did, as he was seated behind me.

His pet peeve was that he didn't like people staring at him. If I remember correctly, he said he didn't understand why people stared at him.

And I have to admit it never occurred to me that people with tattoos on their neck, arms, legs, calves, etc. etc. and etc. would not like to be stared at. Why else do they have this body art unless they want to display it for others to see?

What else do they expect?

They're stared at either because people can't believe what they've done to themselves, or they're stared at because people actually like the tattoos and want to get a good look.

So they should be happy that they're stared at!

But for the tattooed to feel self-conscious about the stares...doesn't seem to make sense to me. If they don't want to be stared at, perhaps they should wear long sleeve shirts or not get tattoos in visible areas in the first place.

The guy himself seemed nice enough, normal enough except for his liking for a lot of tattoos - he had become a tattoo artist because he was an artist and that was the quickest way to make an income, as opposed to trying to sell paintings or something of that nature. Which was a reason I'd never thought of and makes sense...

But you'd think one tattoo would be enough...to have every inch of your body covered in tattoos...and then be annoyed when people stare at you...there's a disconnect there.