This experience is not personally about me, nor does it talks about one of my experiences in detail but this is for the general majority of people sick of the eternal phrase "Your going to regret that".
At A Glance Author Brad Porter Contact [email protected] IAM issueskid When N/A So how many times does it happen, ignorant people coming out with the top stupid lines of all time when they really do not care?
1) You will regret that when you're older
2) Did that hurt? (When they do not care what your answer will be anyway)
3) Why?
4) Insulting words such as (you freak, prick, Satan)
5) Why don't you get ......done (why don't you piss off and let me decided what I get done)?
I am sure were all sick of these stupid questions. Obviously there are people out there who do show an interest but you can always tell when people do not care and are obviously asking because they think "modded" are in some way abnormal.
For me I choose modification because I want to express myself, I like the way it looks and it makes a boring body more interesting to look at. For others they feel it a spiritual need, other like the pain, other want to stand out and then there are the people who do it for the "coolness" factor. You can always tell who will regret a mod and who will not. I remember when I went to get my first tattoo. There were two lads in the studio looking through flash. One said "what shall we get done" the other replied "um...whatever", they kept looking through and finally picked something like a dragon and a union jack. One then went to enquire about a price and was asked "where do you want it because the price varies". He then shouted over to his mate "yeah where shall we have them done", his mate answered "anywhere, um...shoulder? Leg? Um...I don't know wherever".
You would think if you're going to permanently change your body then you would give it a little more consideration than having a tattoo of anything anywhere right? Well obviously not, these people then regret there tattoos most of the time. I am not stereotyping because from my experience all of the people who have told me they regret a tattoo I have asked "did you think about what you were getting"? And in 9 times out of 10 the reply was "um, no it was a new thing at the time, I just went down with some mates and got one done". A typical answer, however my tattoos are well thought through and I don't think I would ever get a flash design. My first was because of my love of punk music and how I hate the way my country is run. I partly designed my entire first tattoo and my second tattoo my friend designed based on a few designs that I liked. He then changed the tattoo to suit how I wanted it to look.
Recently I have had many people say to me "what are you going to do when your 60"? My opinion a few months ago would have been to not get a tattoo, so in later life I would not regret any. Then I started to like a design and thought I would not regret it. I thought about the question, "what are you going to do when your 60"? Then I came up with my own answer:
So I have to go through life unmarked and normal just so for the 20 or so years of my life I can look like a normal old man and not one covered in blue blobs from old tattoos. So maybe I will get to 60 and think "god I should of done that" but it will be too late. My new outlook is, why shouldn't I look how I want for my first 60 years and then in my last 20 when I don't give a shit anyway I can think "yes these blue blobs are part of me, I don't regret them, they meant something to me and they are still part of me even if they are faded". Why should we go through life not doing something just in case we get to 60 and don't like it anymore? Surly something that means so much to me, like my love of music, I will never regret, I will never not like punk and even if I did it has been a massive part of my life, my experiences and growing up.
My advice to you all is choose your own path, don't follow society's wish, don't fit in, don't look the same. Fuck the system we are modified people and nobody can ever take away our culture. It's far more than modification now, it's a way of life, it's a culture and it's ours...Long live the modified society!