I once joked and told my mum that I was getting a tattoo and in a very calm manner, she told me to lock my hair, smoke weed and sniff cocaine while I was it so I could be a true hoodlum. I just wanted to see her reaction and boy did she make her point clear! I don’t have a problem with tattoos as long as they are small, sensible and preferably not out for the world to see. A cute heart on the wrist, or a small butterfly near the ankle is okay, not top to bottom nonsensical designs! I know that it is an individual’s choice to do whatever they want to their body but some of these things are simply ridiculous. I have no kind words for people like musician, drummer and founding member of Motley Crue, Tommy Lee. He is 50 and has tattoos all over his body! Is it any wonder why people do not take him seriously?In truth, long before tattoos became some kind of trend, the majority of people with them were bikers, their girlfriends, criminals and military men! And in Africa, they were a rumour. Anyone who had them done abroad came home to Africa hiding the tattoo because to the few who knew them, they were seen as the highest level of hooliganism.I simply find most of them unattractive and flat out butt ugly. Some people permanently design their bodies with signs, logos, images and words they do not even know the meaning of! I know the procedure can be reversed but from what I’ve heard, the process of having a tattoo removed is even more painful. They are not trashy in a moral sense but artistically, seriously shabby. For example, a girl in a killer outfit with tattoos up and down her arms is the equivalent of a great dress paired with old, dirty and seriously beat up trainers! I actually like the small stars that singer Rihanna has at the back of her neck, I think they are really sexy but if she decided they looked so hot she had to have more work done then shock us with a late Amy Winehouse appearance, I guarantee you she’d drop from the hotty list. What happens when old age kicks in? I don’t know about you but there is something I find seriously disturbing about old people with tattoos other than the fact that tattoos look terrible on wrinkly old skin. In the end, it is up to an individual. Personally, the risks that come with tattoos is enough to make me chicken out, as the instruments need sterilizing or Hepatitis C will stopover and in Africa, well, let’s just say, diseases know how to linger!