Tattoos

[Irish]

So far I have nothing but word tattoos.  "PROMETHEUS" is on my left wrist, "EGO" is on my right wrist, and on the inside of my left upper arm is the beginning of a quote from Richard Dawkins: "We are going to die, and that makes us the lucky ones."

That's it so far.  About to get the penicillin core structure; just need to find a location.

[Seppuku]

Got one near the chest; them buggers hurt.

Don't all tattoos hurt?

To an extent, yes, but on meatier parts it just feels like you're being scratched, so not too bad, as it's really not that painful. When it's closer to the bone it tends to be worse. However, if you're weird like my brother, when he had his first tattoo he couldn't stop giggling because it tickled rather than hurt.

[One Above All]

<snip>

After reading your post, I thought that maybe I should get the tattoos I want on my arms on my wrists instead. It'd look cooler, IMO.

[nogodsforme]

I saw a young woman working in a store with a molecule tattoo on her arm (along with many other tats and piercings) and I asked her what chemical it was. She smiled and said "Something special." A few minutes later she came over to me and whispered, "It's THC. I just didn't want to say with my boss standing there."

So, the boss did not care about tattoos per se. But weed? That's where we draw the line....

[Schizoid]

Got one near the chest; them buggers hurt.

Don't all tattoos hurt?

It depends where you get one.  Mine, on my upper arm, was not painful at all when I got it.  However, when I got it retouched some weeks later it did hurt because the skin was still tender from the first time.

[Irish]

<snip>

After reading your post, I thought that maybe I should get the tattoos I want on my arms on my wrists instead. It'd look cooler, IMO.

Whenever I was deciding where to put those two tattoos a single word just looked out of place and random on any other part of my body. But on the wrists they are framed nicely between the ulna and radius. 

[Quesi]

I'd like to get some tattoos on my arms, hands and back, but I'm afraid I won't be able to get a job if I have them.

Quite a few years back I hired a smart, competent woman as an ESOL teacher.  At that time our health insurance didn't kick in until after three months of successful employment.  On the morning of the first day of the third month, she arrived at work with a nose ring.  I commented on it, and asked when she had gotten her nose pierced.  She said that she had pierced her nose many years earlier, but that she was waiting for her probationary period to be over before wearing the nose ring to work. 

I laughed and told her the probationary period was actually six months.  It was just the health benefits that kicked in after three months. 

She worked for me for 12 wonderful years with that nose ring.  And a few tattoos that made an appearance on sleeveless days. 

Don't assume.  Unless you plan on being a banker or a Wall Street broker, I think most work places look at the person's skills rather than superficial silliness.  At least I hope so.  I would not want to work in an environment in which people were judged by their "personal style."  Of course, I entered the workplace in a different economy. 

And scientists are almost expected to have eccentricities. 

[magicmiles]

Don't assume. 

Sound advice.

I was interviewing a jewellery store owner yeaterday after his store was robbed. As we were inspecting damage one of his customers came along to offer her sympathies, and they ended up chatting and making jokes about how the culprits were too silly to take some quite valuable items. I was introduced to the lady, and because she seemed to have a sense of humour I said to her with mock seriousness "I'm going to need to confirm your whereabouts at 2 o clock this morning". Well....her jaw dropped. She was about to tear me a new one, so i quickly said I was joking. It was a little awkward...

[Spit]

I've got one. I'll get another. Give me an idea. 

[DumpsterFire]

I'd like to get some tattoos on my arms, hands and back, but I'm afraid I won't be able to get a job if I have them.

Any tattoo that can be covered up by a T-shirt is safe. No one at work is going to see you without at least a T-shirt on unless they become your friend outside of work. Tats on your hands are not recommended if employment is a concern, however.

[One Above All]

<snip>
Don't assume.
<snip>

And scientists are almost expected to have eccentricities. 

While I am eccentric, I'd rather not risk it. Being a physicist is my dream job. I don't want anything to screw it up.

Any tattoo that can be covered up by a T-shirt is safe. No one at work is going to see you without at least a T-shirt on unless they become your friend outside of work. Tats on your hands are not recommended if employment is a concern, however.

I'm afraid for me it's "all or nothing" on this.

[jdawg70]

<snip>
Don't assume.
<snip>

And scientists are almost expected to have eccentricities. 

While I am eccentric, I'd rather not risk it. Being a physicist is my dream job. I don't want anything to screw it up.

Any tattoo that can be covered up by a T-shirt is safe. No one at work is going to see you without at least a T-shirt on unless they become your friend outside of work. Tats on your hands are not recommended if employment is a concern, however.

I'm afraid for me it's "all or nothing" on this.

Look.  I'm not saying that you should change your mind or anything, but if you were doing research in a lab that terminated you, not for a lack of scientific skill, not for lack of quality of work, not for lack of increasing knowledge, but because of how you look and what you wear...is that a place you think you'd be able to actually live your dream of being a scientist?

Sorry - I just find one of the irritating things in society to be the 'form over function' mentality that rears its ugly head in the workforce.  Part of the reason why that continues to perpetuate is that people are (often time rightly mind you for practical reasons, so I'm not slamming you or anything here) afraid to express themselves as who they are and who they want to be.

And I realize that I'm really stretching here, and putting it on the same level feels inappropriate, but part of the reason that some 50% of people in the U.S. feel 'threatened' by atheists is simply ignorance - they make some negative assumptions as to what an 'atheist' is like because they either a) don't know any atheists or b) don't know that they know any atheists.  And they have a bad impression.  Similarly, some parts of society seems to have some perception that things like overt piercings, lots of tattoos, peculiar hobbies means that they are fringe human beings that cannot be trusted in the same manner as other human beings.  Perhaps if they met some of the tat-sporting scientists, the nipple-pierced doctors, the mohawk-sporting engineers, the motorcycle-riding IT managers, they'd realize that, yeah, these people just have facets of their lives that are their 'thing' and it has no bearing in their ability to perform a job function or behave like intelligent, respectable, interesting members of society.
</end from-the-hip-potentially-ill-thought-out rant>

[One Above All]

Look.  I'm not saying that you should change your mind or anything,

Then what's the point of saying what you're saying?

but if you were doing research in a lab that terminated you, not for a lack of scientific skill, not for lack of quality of work, not for lack of increasing knowledge, but because of how you look and what you wear...is that a place you think you'd be able to actually live your dream of being a scientist?

Half a dream is better than no dream.

(I don't remember the name of the character who said it)

While I agree that, in a way, it'd suck to work in such a place, the pros outweigh the cons. My love of physics surpasses almost everything else.

I am reminded of a quote from "Angel":

We live as though the world is as it should be, to show it what it can be.

While, in theory, that's a good idea, it would only work if virtually everyone liked tattoos and such and weren't afraid to get them. Only a relatively small percentage of people like tattoos and other body modifications. We wouldn't make much of a difference.

Sorry - I just find one of the irritating things in society to be the 'form over function' mentality that rears its ugly head in the workforce.  Part of the reason why that continues to perpetuate is that people are (often time rightly mind you for practical reasons, so I'm not slamming you or anything here) afraid to express themselves as who they are and who they want to be.
<snip>

We're in agreement.

[jdawg70]

Then what's the point of saying what you're saying?

Fair enough - I guess I mean to say that I'm expressing my thoughts, and it's your choice of whether or not to incorporate my thoughts in your decision-making process.  Incorporation or disregarding of my thoughts on the matter is something that is not subject to any type of evaluation.

Half a dream is better than no dream.

(I don't remember the name of the character who said it)

While I agree that, in a way, it'd suck to work in such a place, the pros outweigh the cons. My love of physics surpasses almost everything else.

Just...be careful there.  I know people who have a love of engineering and the place they work forces them to spend more of their time dealing with the pomp and circumstance of looking presentable as opposed to, say, actually engineering anything.  Burnt one of them out of engineering entirely.  Others - well, they just deal.

I am reminded of a quote from "Angel":

We live as though the world is as it should be, to show it what it can be.

While, in theory, that's a good idea, it would only work if virtually everyone liked tattoos and such and weren't afraid to get them. Only a relatively small percentage of people like tattoos and other body modifications. We wouldn't make much of a difference.

Do you think that's due to an actually small percentage of people into body modification, or a perceived small percentage due to the number of people hiding it?

No, I have not facts or data to back it up, so it's really more of a 'food-for-thought' statement than an actual argument.

[One Above All]

Fair enough - I guess I mean to say that I'm expressing my thoughts, and it's your choice of whether or not to incorporate my thoughts in your decision-making process.  Incorporation or disregarding of my thoughts on the matter is something that is not subject to any type of evaluation.

Just so we're clear: it's not my choice. I can't choose to incorporate others' ideas into my own thought processes. It either happens or it doesn't.

Just...be careful there.  I know people who have a love of engineering and the place they work forces them to spend more of their time dealing with the pomp and circumstance of looking presentable as opposed to, say, actually engineering anything.  Burnt one of them out of engineering entirely.  Others - well, they just deal.

Let's hope that (the "burning out" thing) doesn't happen to me.

Do you think that's due to an actually small percentage of people into body modification, or a perceived small percentage due to the number of people hiding it?

No, I have not facts or data to back it up, so it's really more of a 'food-for-thought' statement than an actual argument.

You've got a point there. Still, I'll err on the side of caution. I won't get any tattoos (but won't deny that I want them), unless people with tattoos and other body modifications become more accepted in today's society.