Two very reasonable parents discuss the tattoo their student son has just got on his arm. You get the sense the parents have had some wild days themselves and are hardly prudish. Mother is doing most of the talking.
Mum: It is very big though, isn’t it?
Boy: No, it’s not.
Mum: And well, it isn’t very nice either.
Son: I wanted something unique. Personal. It’s a statement.
Mum: I’m just very concerned that you’ll regret it in the future.
Son: Everyone has tattoos.
Dad: (quietly) I thought you were trying to be different.
Mum: And it is very disappointing that you used your rent money from us to pay for it. How much did it cost?
Dad: No point asking how much it cost. It’s done now.
Son: It wasn’t very expensive.
Dad: And that’s why it looks so crap and you’re a bloody idiot. If you’re going to live with it for the rest of your life you should have spent proper money on it and got a good one.
(Ends)
* Formerly Brighton Scenes… but now I have crossed the border…thus the new name.
My parents never knew I had tattoos it really wasn’t worth the upset to them. At the tender age of *7 I still love them and would have more, many people don’t even know I have them, they’re mine for me 😉
Lovely little exchange. I can feel the frustration of all three!
Faintly off-topic, but my memory has been nudged into rare recollection. John Hegley was talking about the Edinburgh Military Tattoo when he said:
“To you it may be taboo to pooh-pooh the Tattoo
but to me the Tattoo is something to say ta-ta to”
but I still think it worth sharing.