The 1960s ranch-style house with the faded white paint and wrought iron bars on the windows is located on a corner lot in a nearby city. A notice, printed on faded computer paper, is taped to the glass on the door. It reads:
“YOU WALK ON THE GRASS,
WE CHARGE YOUR ASS!”
This is one of many signs posted throughout the building of this popular tattoo parlor. In order to enter the premises, it is necessary to ring the doorbell and wait to be admitted. Once inside, the heavy wooden door’s dead bolt is locked, although it is only early afternoon. Semi-darkness envelopes the room where vibrant images of tattooed body parts become the focus against wood paneling walls. The following messages are scattered among the tattooed designs:
“RELAX!” screams out in dark bold letters.
“NO WHINING” is illustrated in that familiar symbol of a circle drawn with a slash through it over the word ‘whining’.
“DO NOT TOUCH THE DESIGNS!”
“We accept MASTERCARD & VISA with a $5.00 service charge, or cash, but absolutely no checks!”
A shabby, thread-bare, gold plaid couch in the reception area directs your attention to a dusty Mediterranean-style coffee table with numerous scratches and chipped corners. The table is cluttered with three-ring notebooks of design possibilities featuring everything from familiar cartoon characters to menacing skulls and fire-breathing dragons. A couple of straight-back vinyl chairs placed here and there fill the corners opposite a portable television set supported by two plastic orange crates. The low-pile gray carpeting underneath has been stained with gum, cigarette burns, and dirt. Contrary to presumption, the area lacks the sterile medicinal odor one might expect.
Surprisingly, the room is full of eager customers anxiously awaiting a turn to be permanently inked with signature emblems. Every artistic choice has significance and importance to the master tattooist. Each person has a story to tell. A legend in the making. Heavy Metal music fills the air, and yet, the intermittent buzzing of the drill, which slightly resembles an electric shaver, is heard in the background. It is not unusual to see a customer signal the doorman to be released from these surroundings before service is rendered. Perhaps the required patience of being in limbo, not knowing if one is ready for the finality of the action, is unsettling.
snapshotsincursive 