I Love Skulls

I started tattooing just before tattooing got popular, so I was eased into it. One of my first, in what would be nearly a decade of such events, was a simple cover-up tattoo. Well, a redo, actually. A guy comes in to the shop one day and asks about adding on to an old skull tattoo that he had gotten way back when. So, he starts telling me all about it, who did it, where it was done, how it healed, what he had for lunch the day after... you know, the usual. Well, his skull looked like a typical “old school” tattoo, which he wanted redone.

“Yeah, that’s doable”, I assured him.

But he cut me off with, “Oh, but I want to have him wearing a hardhat.”

I said, “Well, that‘s no problem. The original tattoo is light, so we’ll dump some color in the hat, no problem.”

“Oh, and can we make it say ‘Thompson’s Affordable Home Improvement’ above it??”, he asked.

Ok, that’s kind of strange. I tell him that it’s doable and give him a price, which he thinks is a little too steep. So, after talking about it for a short time, he came up with his solution. “How about ‘Thompsons Affordable Home Imp.’?”, he says. Now that’s funny. I tell him, “Hey, there’s a lot of other ways we can work something out, maybe smaller letters or a different font?” But, he now has his mind set. Well, the customer is always right, except when they’re not. I did the tattoo and he walked away with something he was proud of. But I think it IS a great way to advertise, and maybe even write it off on you taxes. If you are ever in the market for a Home Imp., think Thompsons Home Imp.