Got Ink?
Do you remember your first tattoo? I certainly do. It was
the most painful thing I’ve ever experienced in my life. When I first thought
about getting a tattoo, I was with Karine and another one of our friends. We
were 15 years old and badly wanted a tattoo! Of all the things I could have wanted
in my 15-year-old mind, it was a bar code on my neck. Was it a “thing” back
then? Maybe it was the year The Matrix came out? Well guess what…. I chickened
out! Not because I didn’t want a tattoo but because didn’t trust that the
tattoo artist was good enough to do those straight lines.
When I turned 18 (1999), wanting a tattoo resurfaced. You
would think that I would have done more research by then, nope. I remember
walking into the tattoo shop and talking to this
guy that looked like Snoop Dogg (probably stoned too). I didn’t really know
what I wanted but I knew I wanted it on my lower back. That’s right. The famous
tramp stamp! Or as Barney Stinson from “How I Met Your Mother” would also call
it, a “Panama City Licence Plate”. I started looking at the different drawings
on the wall and I saw something that caught my attention. It was very delicate
drawing of green leaves with a Hawaiian flower in the middle. Rather than going
with the tattoo as it was, I wanted the leaves black which would make it look a
bit more tribal, a replaced the flower by a flame with my first name in Chinese
character. I showed up for my appointment a few days later, definitely not
knowing what was waiting for me. The tattoo artist finalized the drawing and placed
the stencil on my lower back. I laid down in the most vulnerable position you
could think of in front of this stoned stranger. While I was on the table, he told
me that he would start with the outline first. The buzzing sound started and
then the needles touched my body. That’s when I knew I was going to regret
this. It was painful. Really painful. I couldn’t believe what I had gotten
myself into. How stupid was I to have picked such a big tattoo. I later found
out that the lower back is one of the most painful areas on your body to get a
tattoo (way to go 18-year-old me!). All I wanted was to tell him to stop but it
was too late. So, I sucked it up and cried for 25. Fucking. Minutes. He then
paused and told me the outline was done. I couldn’t help but think “What? That
was only the outline??? God dammit!” He tried to reassure me that the shading
wouldn’t hurt as much. Back on the table I was, and he started the shading.
Holy mother of god. I couldn’t take the pain anymore, so I told him to stop! I
told him that I would come back for another session, that I had had enough for
one day. He was shocked and told me that I had to wait at least two weeks for
the tattoo to heal. I looked at him and said: “I will wait as long as I need!”.
Two weeks later, I did go back (didn’t think I ever would) and it wasn’t as bad
as it was the first time. The shading wasn’t as painful but trust me, it still
hurt! I promised myself that I would never get another tattoo …ever….never. Within
two weeks, I was over the pain and was ready for another one, go figure.
It took me 10 years before I got my second tattoo (2009),
and guess what, I got a Hawaiian flower on my right shoulder blade, a plumeria
to be more precise. The experience was quite different. It was the same buzzing
sound from the needles and the pain rushed right back but this tattoo didn’t
hurt as much. I think I knew what to expect, was somewhat mentally prepared and,
it was on a different body part. Since I couldn’t see what the tattoo artist
was doing, I wondered why he kept tattooing the same spot even though he was
working on different areas. Oh, and that cloth he used to wipe the ink over and
over again, it felt like he was doing it on purpose and rubbing off my skin. Thankfully,
it only hurts while the needles are inking your skin. The pain goes away as
soon as they stop. For some odd reason, I seem to forget how painful it is
getting a tattoo after each one.
Since then, I’ve had several tattoos. Some have hurt more
than others and I keep saying that it will be my last one. I’m not fooling
anyone? I had my most recent one done three weeks ago. It ended up being much
bigger than I expected. I was 10 minutes in and I was already complaining. Ha!
The tattoo artist had originally told me it would take 3 hours to complete.
After 1.5 hours, I started swearing like a sailor, and I was making a fist with
both hands. I told myself, again, that it was the last one and kept reminding myself
I didn’t want to go through this again. At the 2-hour mark, I was about to tell
him that I didn’t think I would last another hour but luckily, he was done.
What a relief! The tattoo is healed now… but there’s one more tattoo that I
want to get done, THEN I’LL BE DONE. I SWEAR!
Karine
S
I had my last tattoo done in the
fall last year. It’s a phrase my parents used to tell me, and in turn, I’ve
told my kids a thousand times if not more. I love it.
Now, I think I’m done. Maybe. I
don’t know. Let’s just take it one day at a time. Because like every piece of
art, you’re never truly done unless you run out of ink or canvas.
Karine
& Guik
Comments
Post a Comment