![Hold Back the Dawn [DVD] Charles Boyer; Olivia de Havilland; Paulette Goddard](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41AkExBJQsL._SL75_.jpg)
Tattooed and ringless
Tuesday, July 12, 2011 at 11:44PM 
It was a pretty good movieOne thing I don't do on this blog is talk about my health.
Too personal and so excruciatingly boring, I wouldn't do that to my dear readers.
Today is no exception.
However.
I must tell you what I saw on a recent visit to a doctor's office.
It pains me to reveal this but the physician to whom I refer is an OB/GYN.
No, I am not sick and no, I am not with child. This was purely routine. But thank you for your concern.
The only reason I give you that tidbit is if I leave out the rather personal part -- i.e., that I was seeing a gynecologist -- the other part won't make any sense.
So I'll bite the bullet.
TG ... I don't know how old he was but I'm guessing about one year old
The thing is, I was obliged to cool my heels in the waiting room twice that day -- each time for at least twenty minutes -- so I got to do a great deal of watching.
Oh, I jotted a few things down in the journal I always keep with me, and I flipped through a People magazine, but mostly I observed the comings and goings of ... real people.
Not in a judgemental way. In an interested way.
But, as it turned out, in a sad -- and eventually exasperated -- way too.
Because of all the expectant mothers and new mothers who trooped in and out of the waiting room, most accompanied by what I had to assume were the fathers of their offspring, I couldn't help but notice.
They all had tattoos but not one of them had a wedding ring. At least, not that they were wearing.
Baby TG held aloft by his loving dad ... who was married to TG's mom
The abundance of tattoos and severe paucity of rings applied to both genders.
In other words, I don't think the ringlessness on the part of the mommies was attributable to swollen summer-pregnancy digits.
I think we must face the fact that very few -- if any -- of the couples were actually married.
Meaning, they all had the time, money, and inclination to get "inked" -- many times over -- and, as the bulging bellies and rattle-festooned infant carriers attested, they all had the time and apparently the inclination to make a baby.
But no time, money, or inclination to engage in matrimony.
Now about those tattoos.
TG enjoying the great outdoors, circa 1953
What in the name of all that is holy is it about the expanse of skin constituting the outside of a person's leg between the knee and the ankle that begs to be covered with a lurid, writhing tattoo?
I am only asking. Because yes, it baffles me. Nearly every leg that walked by in that waiting room featured a massive work of ink.
This tattoo thing started small in the general population. I seem to remember twenty years ago, people beginning to get itty-bitty hearts and butterflies and maybe a shamrock or a teensy fairy here and there.
A shoulder, an ankle, what have you.
Now? Huge grotty dark shapes and forms, faces and words, symbols and signs, vines and leaves, bloom grotesquely over entire backs and down arms and up legs and around necks and across bosoms and the Lord above only knows where else.
I tire greatly of it. I'm sick to death of seeing it, if you must know.
TG flanked by his doting parents, Stan and Dolly .. first birthday perhaps
I remember the mind-numbing hours I spent in the waiting room of the doctor who delivered all four of our children.
I do not recall that great numbers of babydaddies swelled the ranks of we mommies who whiled away entire afternoons because Dr. Chung was across the street at the hospital, delivering a bundle of joy, his appointments lagging more and more behind.
In fact, I cannot remember any. Fathers in the waiting room, that is. Oh, I'm sure there were one or two over the ten years I was having children but it was definitely not a normal occurrence.
TG, my husband and the father of my children, never accompanied me to a single OB appointment. For one thing, he was working. For another, I didn't need him trailing after me every minute of the day.
And at least ninety-five percent of the expectant and new mothers waiting with me wore wedding rings. As in, they were married women.
None of us had a tattoo. I for one never will and nobody who calls me mama had better ever come home with one either.
TG's only brother, Ron ... circa 1954
I'm sorry if that offends someone. Allow me to remind you that you click out the same way you clicked in. This is not Disney World and I am not the Easter Bunny.
But I liked those days. We were better off. People for the most part still got married before they had kids. You almost never saw anybody "inked" unless they'd been a Navy man or something, which was fine.
The occasional anchor on a bicep I can handle. I can even tolerate Johnny Depp having his mother's name tattooed on his arm and his daughter's name inked across his chest above his heart. Pirate!
But even that boy has gone too far.
What America needs is fewer tattoos and more wedding rings.
I imagine there are children who are scared out of their wits by some of the gruesome images stamped on the skin of adults in their lives. That's a crying shame. It's not normal and it's not intelligent. In fact it's decidedly low-rent.
Little kids need a mommy and daddy who are not "committed" or "in a relationship" but who are actually married to one another.
Me and my big sister, Kay ... circa 1958
In case you don't get my drift, I mean one man and one woman. Yeah, in addition to being opinionated I'm traditional and narrow-minded.
Deal with it.
The next time people see an inking establishment they should just walk on by. Please spare the rest of us having to look at yet another stupid tattoo.
And that is all for now.
=0=0=0=
Happy Tuesday
Reader Comments (16)
Preach it sister!!!
I agree with every word you wrote. There was just an article in our local paper on a study showing that kids born to single moms don't do as well in nearly every aspect of life. And it just becomes more and more accepted and even normal for people to live together and then break up when it doesn't go quite so well, with no thoughts of those kids.
And tattoos? I'll tell you something else about them! As a nurse who works in a nursing home, I can attest to the fact that they don't get prettier with age. No indeed - a sagging, fading tattoo is not a thing of beauty!
But when are we going to discuss Mangiacavallo?
I loved it, it being what I've been thinking and saying for years. I am so tired of seeing men's butt cracks, girls cleavage down to their belly buttons and tatoos all over their bodies... not to speak of the no-ring thingy. What is this world coming to?
My husband enjoyed my reading this to him, very much! One of his 'pet peeves' is "The Inking Of America"!!! He hears you Dear! He hears you!
And you do it, with humor. Best way to get a point across.
:-)
Hugs...
My Daughter is inked...SIL...inked...Nephew owns a Tatoo business in Salem MA....and is gay...I love them all dearly...just saying...
Would I GET ONE?? NOOOO! Don't like them for the very same reasons you stated. And in OUR day? I agree, OUR hubbys were at work! I would have never thought to pull him off the job to babysit me!
If this Nation doesn't get its morals back, we're in for a Lot more, Impersonal Non-Commitment families...groups?
Good post friend...
hughugs
I'm so with you on this one. You have these people rushing to the emergency room with a hang nail, expecting the government or hospital to cover their expenses, they are covered with tattoos, have the latest smart phone, cigarettes, money for all that, but no money to get married and surely no money for insurance or to pay their bills. It is hideous.
They don't think about what those tattoos will look like as they age either. As Lou-Ann Poovey would say to Gomer Pile, "Your arm (or leg), it's disfigured".
Amen. Even though I have a couple of dearly-loved family members who are severely tattoo-ed.
Here's something for ya. A "friend" of mine on facebook had this comment on one of her posts. It kinda goes to the point of how things are deteriorating.
"A guy I chat with online is in a relationship of three men, and two of the three are firefighters. The group has kids, and they visited the kindergartener's class for show and tell about firefighting. One of the kids in the class asked why Little Johnny had three dads, and another kid piped up, "because they are firefighters!" The rest of the class went, "Oh!" accepted it, and moved on.
I love how kids think."
So, dear Jenny, ruminate on that one for a bit!
Did it make you want to throw up a little?
Hey, where did you get your Stand with Israel thing? I want one for my blog.
Oh I haven't been to see u in a while and the first chance I get I am reading this...I LOVE IT!!! Lol!!! I have to say that I have 3 tattoo's. I didn't get the first until the day my divorce was final with my Ex and I was already 30. He said that if I EVER got body ink he would NEVER take me back...ok. And off I went. Lol! The 2nd one I have no one but me can see and it signified a time years after when I "bloomed" and came into my own. The third is on my back and it is actually the arm band that my husband has on his arm. So, I was married, 2 kids and divorced and trying to figure me and life out when I got mine. I'm done and with everything I go and get always go for "tasteful, not tacky". We all have our own opinions and I LOVE to hear them all!!! U go girlie ;))
@Mari ... I remember you saying that before, about the tattooed aging population. That alone is reason enough for me to refuse to be inked, if all the other reasons were not enough, which they are! LOL
@Cripes Serafina ... we're not, sorry! Great movie though. Burt and Anna had quite the chemistry going. Good to see you, luv.
@Latane ... girl, don't even get me going on the clothing those pregnant and lactating women were almost wearing yesterday. When it gets hot around here things get very scary very quickly on the "fashion" front. As often as not one must avert one's eyes to avoid scorched retinae and nightmares.
@Auntie A ... oh I 'm so glad Uncle A enjoyed my rant! That makes me smile.
@Donna ... we're on a slippery slope for sure! I hate to say it but I think we are officially morally bankrupt. I don't know if we can "get it back" but I'm all for trying. The truth isn't always palatable but it always sets you free.
@Debbie ... I try not to think about the fact that undoubtedly the most heavily-tattooed and the least prone to matrimony in our country are the ones most likely to be on some form of welfare. That means we are at least in part paying for their stupid tattoos in addition to their cell phones and iPods and iPads and beer and smokes and i'd better quit before I really really get mad.
@Hobbit ... that story you told is truly unbelievable and sickening. Just when you think things cannot possibly get any worse, they do. I feel so much sorrow for children being brought up in those immoral conditions. We none of us are perfect and we all sin and do wrong, but what you describe is reprobate, depraved, perverted, and completely abnormal. The little kids don't have a chance.
Feel free to copy and paste my Israel flag or use the links I sent you!
@Crystal ... to each his own! I really don't judge anyone for getting a tattoo although I myself would never do it. But I'm not going to pretend I like it. It has gotten out of hand. You're so pretty I don't know why you'd ever have to put a picture on yourself anyway! LOL!!!
this is a brilliant well put entry. I don't understand the kids, even more I don't understand the parents. Somehow a large part of the American public thinks taking God out of schools and anything else they can think of has made America "better" Really?! If the youth of today are "better" then I must be insane!
Sincerely
Cravingmoreofjesus@blogspot.com
@laura ... thanks for stopping by and for your kind comment. If you're insane then so am I ... but something tells me we're not the crazy ones.
Have I told you I LOVE YOU!, love your humour, love your standards and love that you tell it like you feel it. I too am married to the father of my children, (my wedding ring doesn't fit anymore) but we are married. We sport no tattoos or strange piercings, and like you "anyone who calls me mama better not either" except I think the "anyone who call him DAd better not" and while my sons and I have the wedding discussion many times, men still think with their underwear. I hate it, and I say so. I read your post from tomorrow before this one (just catching up) I want to say if you can afford a tattoo you can afford to buy yourself a happy meal. Your daughter is a sweetheart worrying about saying no to the fill up of gas.
@irene ... LOL and thanks luvvy, it's nice to know one is not totally alone in thinking the world has gone completely insane. What amazes me is that it's so SIMPLE if people will do one thing: ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR ACTIONS. But it seems our parents were the last generation to teach that (or in my case, to demand it), and very few of our generation are willing to be the heavy. So much sorrow has resulted from it, and as usual it comes down hard on the children. I'll never stop squawking about it. Never.
We are channeling the same muse, darling Jenny! The other obscenity of tattooing oneself, is doing it with the names of dead people. I wrote about that sometime ago, but it's relevant to your broader point upstairs.
@Jewel ... you're channeling Johnny Depp too? Baaaahahahaha ... j/k I'll check out the link!