A Place to Get Inked

What is your favorite place to go in your city?

I did not have to think very hard about this question today. I will trash talk my city to anyone who asks me where I live. All I’ll say, is that the last syllable in the name of my city is -ville. And us locals, and really anyone who knows anything about the city, has replaced -ville with -nam. True story. There is a lot to really not like about it. It’s a fairly large city with lots and lots of chain stores and restaurants to choose from, but very little originality. Downtown has some interesting stores and restaurants, but that’s about it. Even though I live about two miles from downtown, I don’t go to places down there very often. And even as I typed that, I thought of the mom and pop garden store that’s down there. My husband and I go there on a couple of Saturdays every month. It’s not my favorite though.

Given that for 7 months out of this year I have had a tattoo appointment, I’m going to say that my favorite place is the tattoo shop. There are two that I have frequented this year. Neither is necessarily my favorite. Though I will probably keep going back to the most recent one I’ve gone to simply because their deposit is 100 dollars less than the other place and I can pay it with a card and don’t have to have cash. I can even pay the deposit with a link they can send through email. Much more convenient.

But the thing is, they both have a similar vibe when you’re in there. Tattoo shops are just cool places to be. I mean, if you’re into tattoos and piercings that is. It’s cool and dark in there, the windows and doors are covered with curtains. I don’t exactly know why, but it adds to the atmosphere. There’s always music playing and from what I gather, someone at the front counter controls what is played, and it’s different each visit. The artists also have an opinion on what they play, and it’s not always a good opinion.

The people there are just really cool too. They’re tattoed like I am, and each with a different assortment of colors and styles and themes. The artists have a sense of humor and a foul mouth, but I do too so it’s pretty neat getting to talk freely with strangers the way I talk at home. The girls at the front counter are sweet and always want to see how your piece turned out when you come up to pay at the end.

All of that comes together to make a place that is inviting and comfortable to be in. Which is good because if you’re going to spend several hours sitting (or laying) in one spot being stabbed repeatedly with a needle, you want to feel as comfortable as possible in other ways while you’re there.

And you never know what you’re going to see while you’re there. During my last appointment I got mooned. Seriously. The artist across from the booth where I was had a visitor. I think they were related somehow. The kid who visited turned to show his back to the artist. Apparently he just finished getting a full back piece done and wanted to show it off. Which he did. But also, that back piece went all the way down his backside as well. When he turned to show my artist, this kid seemed to not be phased that he was showing his business to a random woman in addition to the artist. I mean, it was a pretty awesome piece and I just chalked it up to this being a tattoo shop, it’s ok to drop your trousers to show off your ink. No big deal apparently.

It’s still my favorite place and I am already planning my next visit. It’ll be after the holidays, or actually, maybe during the holidays when I have time off work. My left forearm has a lot of open space and I have a pretty cool idea for my next piece. It’s going to be based on my nearly life-long journey of writing in a journal.

Tattoo shops are just plain cool. I’ve been to quite a few of them and they all have that similar bad-ass, but friendly and inviting feel to them. And I can’t wait to go back.