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| Lima Patrolman Zane Slusher sports his tattoo with his K-9 "Fanto" |
To be honest, though, I truly don't
understand what the appeal of a tattoo is, or why people want to get them so
badly. Oh, if you were a Marine and have "USMC" or "Semper Fi"
stamped on you- I get that. Or, if you are a cancer survivor and want to celebrate
your health, or honor a lost loved one, I get that, too. But some of the
designs, written phrases, and ethnic symbols, I just don't get. I know I'm
showing my ignorance...or "fogey-ness." One thing I have not detected
in any of the tattooed that I have met, however, is regret.
Several
of my co-workers have tattoos, some of them still pretty fresh. For all I know,
they may all have a tattoo. Dr. Bonnie Jones doesn't have any. I can attest to
that.
One of my co-workers had been
contemplating getting a half- sleeve for quite some time. I've never been what I'd
describe as an "arm" man before, but this girl has really beautiful
arms. "Why do you want to do that to your arm?," I would ask her over
and over again . She always replied that I sounded like her mother. I took that
as a compliment.
After the deed was finally done, she
came to work the next day with her newly inked arm covered with clear tape.
"Thank God you got a stick-on!" I exclaimed. She laughed. It wasn't a
stick-on. It was real. Obviously, the tattoo wasn't a choice I would have made,
but if it makes her happy, then who am I to judge?
In regard to my clients with tattoos, I have
no problem not judging them as well. Over the last thirty plus years, some of
the most dedicated and conscientious pet care-givers I have dealt with have had
multiple tattoos, and several even had a good amount of body piercings.
Apparently, the same attention to detail that applies to their body art also applies to the care of their pets. Like
they say, you shouldn't judge a book, or your clients, by their colorful
covers.
In
spite of all the tattoos I saw this summer, there is another that stands out in
my memory. I witnessed it in the summer of 1969. My parents and I went on a
trip to visit my Uncle Hugh and his family. They lived in Scarsdale, about an
hour north of New York City.
On the Sunday morning of our stay,
Uncle Hugh took my dad and me to a local bagel shop. The man behind the counter
was middle-aged and had curly, sandy-gray hair. He also had the most expressive
eyes. They were quite cheery when the man engaged a customer, but when he
turned away, his eyes suddenly became exceedingly sad.
Then I saw a tattoo on his left
forearm. It consisted simply of numbers, I think six of them. I couldn't help
but stare. Although it was my ninth birthday, I didn't have to ask what the numbers
meant. I just knew.
The man didn't try to cover the
tattoo, and obviously hadn't had it removed. I can only imagine that the
numbers, a symbol of what humans are capable of doing to one another, to him
were also a symbol of life. As far as I know, he is the only Holocaust survivor
I have ever encountered.
Nearly half a century later, I've
not forgotten that moment nor what his tattoo represented. Children see things
they remember forever. If they see something bad, hopefully, something good can
be learned from that experience.
By Dr. John H. Jones
Dr. John Jones practices at Delphos
Animal Hospital with his wife, Dr. Bonnie Jones.
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