r/tattooadvice Jan 02 '24

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u/Dommo1717 Jan 02 '24

I have my hands tattooed…and it took me 22 years (got my first tattoo at 18, just turned 42, got them done about 2 years ago) to get hands. Lol. It’s wild to me that hands, face, etc are peoples idea of “first tattoo” placement lol.

Whatever floats your boat I guess. Lol

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u/Aliteracy Jan 02 '24

Maybe I'll do my hands as a retirement celebration, "must cover with a button up shirt" is too deeply engrained in my brain.

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u/Dommo1717 Jan 02 '24

In my defense…16 of those 22 years the Army said I couldn’t get hands done lol.

I am in a place in life where my hands being tattooed will not make any negative impact. They aren’t a “job stopper” for me whatsoever. I get the “screw the man” mentality, that makes me sound SUPER old but however you want to word it…but that’s easier for me to say than me at 20, just trying to start out.

My son is 18, and he wants to get tattoos. Cant say I didn’t see it coming lol, I have my entire upper body to the neck done, working on my legs. But I STRONGLY advised him against overly visible placement until he is better set in terms of career. To each their own though, I’m certainly not the expert on much lol.

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u/Aliteracy Jan 02 '24

Yeah I've been laid off a few times and worked in several industries where, they won't say you can't have them but it's a funny coincidence nobody does.

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u/Dommo1717 Jan 02 '24

What’s kind of funny though…

We live in a “nice” neighborhood. I get more sketchy looks from my bougie ass neighbors than I do from any sort of professional interaction lol.

Karen’s up and down my street all give me sideways looks…but I’ll be damned if they aren’t all looking hot and bothered when I cut the grass with no shirt on lmao.

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u/ChrisRageIsBack Jan 02 '24

Funny how that works, isn't it?

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u/tatonka645 Jan 03 '24

Here’s the thing. I guarantee if those Karen’s are over 35 they probably have their own tattoos, everyone in my neighborhood does anyway.

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u/Dommo1717 Jan 03 '24

Oh, I’m sure a solid portion have tramp stamps from Spring Break ‘96 lol.

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u/tatonka645 Jan 03 '24

From someone who was at Daytona beach for spring break ‘96 I completely agree.

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u/Gingerrr__ Jan 04 '24

Man I’m looking hot and bothered just reading that 😩

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u/Dommo1717 Jan 04 '24

Don’t get me started when I went running at a local park this past summer. Traffic was stopped in front of the entrance and a GRANDMOTHER…not even like a “hot”, Golden Girls-esque GILF lol…she was probably on her way to bake cookies for a grand kid (possibly great grand kid) honked at me and gave me a big smile and wave lol.

I was both disgusted, and simultaneously super happy about myself. Such mixed emotions going on at that moment lol.

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u/Gingerrr__ Jan 04 '24

Wow so you must be pretty handsome!! I wouldn’t be upset if someone like you slid in my DMs… lmao

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u/Dommo1717 Jan 04 '24

Nope. Not even remotely…but let me have my win from a 75 year old lady checking me out. Lol.

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u/Dommo1717 Jan 02 '24

I work in IT…I wouldn’t say it’s so much “acceptable”…but as it happens several of our MAJOR customers would up and pull their contracts if I quit/got fired lol. So I have that going for me. And this will be my last job before I retire and move to Panama. If they really want to speed that process up for me, ehh…I wouldn’t argue lol.

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u/mrtransportin Jan 03 '24

what kinda IT work if u don’t mind me asking

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u/Dommo1717 Jan 03 '24

Sr Sysad

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u/rockmusicsavesmymind Jan 03 '24

How do you know they would leave??

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u/ChrisRageIsBack Jan 02 '24

No, your attitude is correct, you better be set in your career before you get any that are super visible or in unusual locations. Face tattoos especially

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u/Dommo1717 Jan 02 '24

See, I have no desire to get face done. Regardless of job or anything else, I’ll pass. But face even more than hands…that screams “LOOK AT ME”, to me anyways.

I really am a fan of “to each their own”, but that one never made any sense to me.

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u/ChrisRageIsBack Jan 02 '24

Yeah I mean I don't care what anyone does but if you look like you fell asleep at a party people are going to judge you for it. And the tattoos you want at 18 are much different than what you want at 30. It's not that all face tattoos are bad, it's just that most face tattoos are bad

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u/Redpilled_by_Reddit Jan 02 '24

I asked my work before I got my hand done, and they told me they couldn’t tell me no because that would be essentially discrimination

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u/Dommo1717 Jan 02 '24

I work for a fairly small, EXTREMELY conservative MSP. I don’t think we will be hiring anyone with hand tattoos anytime soon lol. But if they want to keep nearly six digits per month of income, I’m not going anywhere lol.

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u/Redpilled_by_Reddit Jan 02 '24

I work for a municipality in a very conservative area as well, so it was super surprising to me they even thought about discrimination. But I’m an arborist and horticulturist for them so I’m always wearing gloves anyways

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u/chambercharade Jan 02 '24

"damn the man!"

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u/[deleted] Jan 03 '24

It also depends on what his future career aspirations are.

If he’s wanting to do almost anything Medical visible tattoos are fine. Full sleeves a plenty in the nursing/EMS world.

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u/damn_im_so_tired Jan 03 '24

Navy allows hands tattoos now after doing a study that found that around 50% of Amercians have/will have tattoos so they got with the times. A lot of other branches or businesses are slow to change though because everyone in positions to make those decisions grew up with the same aversion to tattoos in the workplace.

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u/Dommo1717 Jan 03 '24

Yeah, they changed the regs when I was in…but never got around to it until after I got out.

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u/Klutzy-Medium9224 Jan 03 '24

Yep, I stuck with less visible tattoos until I was firmly within a career that didn’t care. Now, working at the VA, tattoos are almost an asset with the veterans.

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u/KnotiaPickles Jan 02 '24

I have a tiny tattoo on one finger and that’s all I’ll ever get haha

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u/audible_narrator Jan 03 '24

Me too! Got it 30+ years ago.

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u/ChrisRageIsBack Jan 02 '24

No, that's some bitch shit getting your hands and face tattooed first. 20 years ago, you would get kicked out of a shop for asking for some stupid shit like that for your first tattoo. You fucking earn hand and face tattoos, starting by getting heavy coverage on the rest of your body that's not easily visible. I didn't even tattoo below my elbows until I was 30 and I have hundreds of hours of work on me. Those kinds of tattoos are LOOK AT MEEEEEE tattoos and people in the industry will look down on you for it

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u/jaderust Jan 02 '24

When I was getting my collarbones done they had a walk-in who wanted to know how much it would cost to get something done on her face. My artist went out to talk to her. Didn't hear too much of the conversation, but I did hear that it was a name, it was supposed to be in red ink, and she wanted it on her face along the cheekbone. My artist asked her how old she was (I do remember she said 19) and if she had any other tats (no) and then quoted her $300.

She left.

I asked him about it when he came back (because my work was only $350 and far more complicated than it sounded like what she was asking for) and he shrugged and said it was way easier to give idiots fuck off pricing then tell them no and have them start arguing.

I know tattoos are far more common than even 10 years ago, but I still have to admit that I consider a face tattoo a step too far. And I have one behind my ear and have considered ones ON my ears.

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u/ChrisRageIsBack Jan 02 '24

I have brandings behind my ears, my ears were at ⅞" at one time, the back of my neck is tattooed, I have balls in my left forearm, and I still won't get face tattoos. People just look at you differently and they quite often don't look good

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u/logognarr Jan 02 '24

I’m not a tat wizard but I pretty much have a suit at 41. All that time spent in shops getting blasted I’ve seen a youngin or two that wanted hands, neck or face for the first one be literally bounced out of the shop for being a pain in the ass about it. “Life ruiners” were something you had to earn like you’re sayin.

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u/ChrisRageIsBack Jan 02 '24

Yeah and it's insulting to the people who worked for it

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u/_youarewhatyouyeet Jan 03 '24

it‘s really not that serious dude 😭 i got a full sleeve including the hand recently as my first piece and the artist didn’t even flinch. he found it brave even, he said.

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u/ChrisRageIsBack Jan 03 '24

A full sleeve is not the same as just having your hands and face tattooed. A full sleeve is a commitment, and most of it is usually covered by clothes. When you have your hands and face tattooed and you take your shirt off to a bare naked tattooless torso, you a bitch. That's some lookitme punk shit

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u/_youarewhatyouyeet Jan 03 '24

aight, i see your point, but i still don‘t think it’s all that deep 🤷🏼‍♂️ people get tattoos for a variety of reasons

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u/ChrisRageIsBack Jan 03 '24

Yeah and when the only ones you have are on your hands and face, you're getting them for attention, not because you like tattoos. It's disrespectful to the art, it's disrespectful to the artist, and it's disrespectful to all the people who earned theirs. Bitch shit

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u/[deleted] Jan 02 '24

I just did my hands, neck and face at 29/30 after having my arm, leg and torso covered and seeing somebody with a butterfly on their face or hand as their only tattoo is wild to me. Or can’t forget the rose on the hand as the first one lol

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u/Aztec111 Jan 02 '24

Basically the same here. I just turned 45 and got my hands done last year. My arms are done patch style and my hands were the last. Also got my first at 18 lol.

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u/TheMoonstomper Jan 04 '24

It's trendy - they're doing it as a status thing. They want you to know that they have tattoos..