{"id":4268,"date":"2013-12-20T03:56:50","date_gmt":"2013-12-20T03:56:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/highplainsblogger.wordpress.com\/?p=4268"},"modified":"2013-12-20T03:56:50","modified_gmt":"2013-12-20T03:56:50","slug":"no-tats-for-this-guy-thank-you-very-much","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/?p=4268","title":{"rendered":"No tats for this guy, thank you very much"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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I cannot believe I am writing about this, but I feel this overpowering need to weigh in.<\/p>\n

Tattoos are the thing these days. Virtually everyone has them. I go to the gym Monday through Friday almost every week. I notice them around the weight room. I notice them in the locker room.<\/p>\n

Men have them. Women have them. Old or young? Doesn’t matter. Old folks are tatted up right along with the youngsters. <\/p>\n

I cannot recall the youngest person I’ve ever seen with a tattoo. So, I won’t go there.<\/p>\n

The old guys have them likely from their days serving in World War II or Korea. <\/p>\n

Long ago, way before my sons were born, and before I met the girl I would marry, I made a vow to my father. No tattoo ever will scar my body.<\/p>\n

Dad implored me not to get one as I was getting ready to be inducted into the Army in the summer of 1968. He was adamant about many things while counseling me about what would lie ahead: I would learn to hate long lines, sleeping in pajamas and I would hate most of the so-called “food” I would get at the mess hall. He spoke of that dish known commonly as “s— on a shingle,” which is chipped beef served on toast. I did manage to tell Dad upon my return in 1970 that I actually liked that stuff.<\/p>\n

He was right about long lines and sleeping in jammies. <\/p>\n

He also regretted the tattoo he got while serving in North Africa during World War II. As I remember it, he got one while on shore leave from the ship on which he served. I also recall him telling he was, shall we say, more than slightly inebriated when the got the tat artists to put the design on his upper arm.<\/p>\n

He regretted it every day of his life. Dad begged me not to get one while I was away in the Army.<\/p>\n

And to honor my father’s fervent wish, I never once even entered a tat parlor.<\/p>\n

I haven’t to this day.<\/p>\n

I had vowed years ago to be the last man on the planet to get a cell phone. I declared victory in that effort as I purchased my first device. I’ve since upgraded to a smart phone.<\/p>\n

That said, I now will vow to be among the last men on Earth not to have a tattoo. Others can ink their bodies to the max, to their hearts’ content. If my sons ever get tats, I don’t want to know about it.<\/p>\n

Me? I’m declaring my battered old bod to be a tat-free zone.<\/p>\n\n

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I cannot believe I am writing about this, but I feel this overpowering need to weigh in. Tattoos are the thing these days. Virtually everyone has them. I go to the gym Monday through Friday almost every week. I notice them around the weight room. I notice them in the locker room. Men have them. … Continue reading No tats for this guy, thank you very much<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4268"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4268\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}