By Ian Griffin
Staff Writer
Over the last few decades, there has been a growing trend of people getting tattoos. People dipping into their pocket books to get ink used to be taboo.
Everyone knew someone with a tattoo, usually a former service member or a perceived tough guy/gal.
The country artist T.G. Sheppard even had the lyrics “I’ve known some painted ladies.” I believe Shepard was referring to tattoos, but I could be wrong. Several bands in the 70s and 80s touch on the taboo nature of tattoos, such as AC/DC and the Rolling Stones.
Fast forward to today, and that rarity has become the norm. Now, it is hard to find a person that does not have a tattoo. A person without a tattoo is like a unicorn. Even the music industry has embraced tattoos with completely open arms.
In the 70s and 80s, you would find a song here and there that would throw one line in for a tattoo. Now you have lots of songs fully dedicated to having ink.
The Dropkick Murphys provided us with a song called “Rose Tattoo.” The song goes into the pride the singer had for each tattoo on his body as he describes what each one means to him.
Typically when someone gets ink on their body, it is because they have pride in something. The person getting a tattoo wants something permanent that encapsulates that moment, event, or thought.
This tattoo demonstrates their love, admiration, achievement, friendship, legacy, or incident in their life that they would like to cherish. As a guy that served a long time in the military, I have seen all sorts of tattoos. I have noticed that people get a tattoo of people or events that are emotionally significant to them. The tattoo is a way to honor that special something.
Since we are at a place of higher learning, there has to be someone who has a tattoo representing Northeast Texas Community College. There are plenty of people that are incredibly proud of their achievements at NTCC. So, I started by visiting a few tattoo parlors in the local area to ask questions. Have you had a customer get a tattoo of NTCC? The answer was no with each one. I even asked, ok, “what about the NTCC Eagle or an NTCC graduation date?” The answer was the same. So now I ask, why has no one dropped a few dollars on some ink of this fine institution? I know people are proud to go to school here.
If I didn’t search hard enough and someone has one, then let me know because I would love to interview that special someone who has pride in their collegiate achievements.
If you have an NTCC tattoo and want to be interviewed you can reach me by email at igriffin116@ntcc.edu.