Negative Reactions.

truthinwords

So have any of you ever had any trouble because of your piercings/ink? Personally I've gotten many dirty looks, "that's disgusting" comments etc. One woman assumed I'd gotten my friend pregnant because I was looking at baby clothes with her in BT2 apparantly thats what "THAT SORT DO". I'm in UCD and I'm pretty sure some of my lecturers are unimpressed with my new septum piercing and my tiny 4mm gauges. Anyways any stories/advice welcomed.

xtruthinwordsx

Star Lord

Nah, I have only had one person see my tattoo that didn't like it, and that's my lil brother.

And besides, in cases like the above, someone that would judge someone so quickly is really not worth worrying about.

Le Rack

what course are you in in UCD? Im there too, I've gotten a few minor versions of those looks for having my hair pink, my tatt n piercings are pretty unnoticable so I've not gotten much hassle over them, well minor amounts over my tongue but not bad...
Im in second science...

Will

Ive gotten alot of negative reactions, including some from my Aunts and Uncles which used to really upset me. One of my uncles a few months ago saw my nape piercing, shouted "oh my god thats disgusting", then proceeded to poke me and prod my neck, telling his kids "hey look at this, its horrible, oh my god"

Some randomers are very abusive also, pointing to my lobes and saying "what the f*ck are you doing to yourself you freak". My ear lobes are at 17mm and i wear solid plugs in them now for fear of comments... unfortunately.

For some reason though I cant help but agree sometimes with people who say these things, it must be weird to see someone with big holes in theire ears, labret etc. its not the norm lets be honest.

Then again some people really surprise me. Was in Q-bar a while back, this couple were looking at me for quite a while. got a bit uncomfortable, anyway eventually they came up and said that my piercings were really nice and that they really suit me. Same in work yesterday, Japanese dude complimented me on my plugs saying "they are beautiful things". Comments like those really make my day. They are few and far between but still nice to know people are accepting of them.

I know when Im home in dublin taking the bus to college, no one will sit beside me (even if bus is packed) but im more than happy with that, more space for me. They dont know me and suddenly assume im some sort of unsavoury character.

After a while though it will all roll off your back truthinword.

I get some sh!t in work too but i promptly reply saying how i look doesnt affect how i work and shouldnt affect others around me.

McFearless

well i dont think iv really gotten any1 say "oh i like you tattoo",well apart from the one on my foot!but im sure ppl with piercings get it alot more,doesnt really bother me though,i love my tattoos!:D

rain on

An oul lad next to me in a train queue asked me if my tattoos were a substitute for a man. I was just kind of baffled and gaped at him; his wife shushed him violently and my gentleman friend (sadly not present) was greatly amused.

I used to work in a public-facing job and the reactions I got were never went beyond "that's cool" or "did they hurt?". My colleagues were mainly middle-aged women and there was a bit of "begod what's that yoke" but they got used to them pretty quickly.

Nobody in my four years in UCD seemed to be fazed by anything, except the girl who sat behind me when I had a nape piercing that I was always absentmindedly picking at (me and piercings don't mix well).

My younger cousins think I am a mad yoke altogether but they have a rather sheltered rural Catholic upbringing so that's what you get.

rannerap

my manager called me a fool for getting my lip pierced and in front of thw whole staff kept asking me questions like why would you shove metal through your lip and whats the point,My other managers just find them amusing,everyone gets really freaked out by the smiley though,i dont get it

Crumble Froo

the smiley? ^

haha, well, my parents gave up on me a long time ago, they know that i know what i want, and im stubborn as f*ck, so they'll usually just roll their eyes and sigh...

was at my nana's this morning, and she loved my polar bear, thought it was great! was goin through some ideas im brainstorming for my next piece, and she actually helped me, so that's all positive.

my cousin's kid (about 2) wanted to know why i put a screw through my lip (bar)... i had to laugh, as i had absolutely no idea either an elderly client wanted to know what id had done that required me to have such a huge filling.... o_O

showed my mate from college (i dropped out 2years ago) my polar bear, and he said its one of the weirdest things he's ever seen. cool. but weird. my mam did actually wonder why it was all smudgy (there's a smoky/smudgy effect around the polar bear) and wondered if that was part of hte healing process.... which kinda threw me a bit, as i think that looks pretty cool, but each to their own, and this is my own.

ive not seen many of my extended family who'd be more likely to give out to me, though even my housemate who really disapproves of tats thought my polar bear was really cool. which is a HUGE compliment coming from him!


...so no... not much negative, now that i think about it.

The_Scary_Man

I never really get negative reactions but a guy in work once asked me why I kept getting 'girly' tattoos meaning the ones on my wrists. I told him they were to remind me to have compassion for myself and others and he grunted and walked off.

I got a few queer looks at my friends wedding in Sligo when I had both my eyebrows, a labret and my tragus pierced. Michelle said later that people were asking her 'Who was the guy with all the metal sticking out of his face?'

Having said that when I was younger a guy we used to hang around with got what I thought were some damn ugly tattoos and I asked him why did he get those done. I think it was a spider's body with a woman's upper torso and head. It was just unnerving... Now though I'd be more inclined to be of the opinion that it was his body and he could cover it in **** and dance the hoola once it made him happy. I've grown a lot since then lol

Léan

Not much has ever been said to me i think.
Only things i can think of were things family have said.

A few years ago i was visiting cousins and my uncle from the States was there, he started questioning me as to why i had my lip pierced He couldn't understand it at all and kept rambling on about what the point in it was, even after his wife sushed him repeatedly. It got to the extent that i actually just took the thing out for the occasion as he wouldn't shut up :@ That's the only thing that bothered me really. Always thought lip piercings were fairly common these days, never expected a reaction like that Especially from my uncle

Other then that my brother told me recently that he thought my ears were too big and looked "cheap" hahahah. I just found that one really funny. Never ever have i heard of stretched ears looking "cheap" hahaha.

Just usual crap then like "did it hurt?", which gets annoying after a while.

Star Lord

There are some tattoos and piercings that I dont like, but I wouldnt insult anyone with them, as everyone is different and everyone likes different things!

I have seen a few tattoos that I just thought "What were you thinking?" but I'm sure that by the time I'm done, there'll be people that may thing the same about mine!

truthinwords

narco wrote:

the smiley? ^

It's a lip freneum piercing




xtruthx

The_Scary_Man

L&#233 wrote: »

Other then that my brother told me recently that he thought my ears were too big and looked "cheap" hahahah. I just found that one really funny. Never ever have i heard of stretched ears looking "cheap" hahaha.

Hey Léan, I've got younger brothers too and 'cheap' is the new word on the streets for crap or useless. So give him a clip around the ear for that and tell him to quit his jibber jabber

Are you from the northside? Coz I thought that was a real norrie word.

(I'm a norrie btw )

Le Rack

fair fcuks to ye for the smiley, they freak the crap outta me! I've never had bad reactions in work or from mates, always positive, and I go on about how much I love it all that a lot of my mates end up getting something done themselves!

The worst reactions have been from family, mam threatened to rip my tongue out while i slept, same for tragus, among other comments about destroying my body etc, and my nanna didn't speak to me for two weeks when she found out about my tongue, she thought my tragus was grand though!

truthinwords

I've got my smiley done and it's pretty much the same as any other piercing except for needing two people (one to hold back the lip, the other to pierce).

xtruthx

Gauge

I'm still at the age where my peers consider piercings to be cool enough, although some of my more conservative friends have admitted that they thought I'd have 'grown out' of the 'phase' by now. Yawn. People tell me my nape piercing is gross, my septum makes me look like a bull, and my stretched ears make them sick. Well that's their problem, not mine.

My stretched ears probably get the worst reactions, because they're fairly obvious if I wear tunnels or earskins in them, which is often... personally I don't care if people are grossed out by them, they're MY ears, so whatever. A couple of 'clever' lads have made lewd comments involving their dick and my ears, pretty much setting themselves up for a burn when I point out that my ear is barely big enough to fit a finger in :rolleyes: I get a lot of the 'What about when you're older/have kids/etc', I don't get what people are trying to prove with that question... uh, I'll still have stretched ears, I guess? Woop de doo.

I have no plans for obvious tats yet, so I can't really comment on that. I do know a few of my friends are sick. to. death of the 'What about when you're older??' question, and I can understand why.

truthinwords

"At eighty, I think what I shall regret are things I always wanted to do and never did; The experiences I denied myself because I was too concerned about others opinions or to anxious for their aproval: But I think I would regret most a life wasted living as a person who was not me......"
-Doug Malloy

That pretty much sums it up for me.

xtruthx

Le Rack

no better way of putting it!!! Never regret what you do do but what you do not do!

mc nuggets

truthinwords wrote:

It's a lip freneum piercing




xtruthx

Is it not a real pain in the ass to get the ball in and out of that

truthinwords

I don't take it out but I imagine it'd be no more bother then any other piercing. Removing piercings too often leads to irritation and probably isn't an overly good idea.

stupidfishy

when my dad first noticed the ring in my nose he leaned forward, squinted, looked very confused and then said "you look...different"
ah old people :rolleyes:

Le Rack

haha lol, I got abuse from my da for wearing a shirt that says "homophpbia is gay" and in the year I've had it done he's either not noticed my tongue or is in denial about it

Skellington

I get a fair few negative comments from customers. i've a red an black tribal sleeve and usually get stuff like why did I do that to myself and I'm a fcuking eejit. Before I was allowed into a house one time I even had one woman take my license, then she rang my boss to confirm my name and told him she "didn't think an electrician should have tattoos or a hole in his ear"
I usually just wear long sleeve tops now because it saves a lot of hassle.

The world is full of narrow minded idiots and that'll probly never change:rolleyes:

truthinwords

You should have wired her house so lights and appliances would turn on randomly. See how she likes that lol.

xtruthx

spinandscribble

i dont have pericings except the "normal" type (ears) and my tattoo isnt on show but i get awful looks from the elderly when my hairs all mad colours.

one time pops out at me. i was once walking home from shopping, happy, with a smile on my face when this old lady stopped to look at me and just shook her head and tutted. i was puzzled for around ten minutes. i stopped to catch my reflection to see if something was wrong. i had half my hair pink, my hair up in a high ponytail and a pink quiff. i hadnt my tits or ass on show. i mean look in the mirror missus ever heard of a blue rinse?

rannerap

Ive had th opposite with mine,its currently a bright red and all the old people that come to my shop said it was lovely:p

truthinwords

Galways a bit of a backwards place. I lived there for 3 years and couldn't wait to escape.

xtruthx

rannerap

yeah i used to live in kilkenny so i understand,last time i went back the reactions i got were totally different than in dublin

truthinwords

I was the only pierced/tattooed boy in my school. People thought I was ****ing nuts.

xtruthx

Will

I dunno what to expect when i go back to dublin, here in france im a foreigner and people accept that. Itl be alot different coming back home, I hadnt my ears stretched when i was in dublin... probably worrying over nothing.

Reku

Well thankfully all my tats are pretty much hidden (or only particularly visible in UV ) so not gotten hassle as a result. Have gotten some due to my rings though as I wear some full armour rings and everyone seems to be amazed by them and assume that they are weapons (even though they're completely blunt:rolleyes: ).

Do remember one weird assumption from a kid though when I was getting changed in the local gym it was something along the lines of
"Daddy! Look at the marks on his back! He must be a superhero!"
Ok, suppose the ones on my spine and front do look a bit like something you might expect on a Marvel/DC character's outfit but it still made me laugh (not loud as didn't want to embarress the poor kid).


Sure if people didn't make stupid assumptions based on appearances then we wouldn't have dress codes in work or in pubs & clubs.