The Love Tattoo

Tattoos in youth are a risky thing. Immaturity can lead to spur-of-the-moment decisions and tattoos should never be that. A decent percentage of the Tattoo Artists work is "cover-ups" where they have to use their imagination in order to alter a tattoo that now causes painful embarrassment. 

Many years ago in my youth, a number of us visiting an old-fashioned (and crap) Tattoo parlour in Southend after an afternoon's drinking on an early-80's Beano. One of our mates wanted "Millwall" tattooed on his upper arm but even with half-a-dozen pints on board he was dithering, much to the annoyance of the Tattooist. In the end, he had it done but the tattooist somehow managed to leave a visible gap between 'Mill' and 'wall.' There was no excuse other than he might have been a West Ham fan. We never laughed so much. The gap was big enough for him to have a daisy put between it and it was referred to for years afterwards as the Mill Wall tattoo.

The other classic cover-up, of course, is girls names although with the number of girls now smothered in tattoos, then I guess I ought to be a modern man and refer simply to ex-flame names. Always a mistake eh?

For me, love for someone else must endure to make the ultimate commitment and it's why this tattoo, thirty years on is such a belter - nice one Kev.