My dad (along with virtually every other military man of his time) had a tattoo, navy-type, maybe 3X2" on his upper arm. Back then there was no stigma attached to tattoos, at least not that type.

For the bigger part of my life, though, tattoos had an undertone of "bad". No "respectable" woman had a tattoo. To a great extent, tats meant hooker, ex-con, circus act, or gang member. At least that was the vibe.

I'm smart enough to know that I'm way behind the times on this issue. Nice people have tattoos. People I wouldn't have guessed have tattoos. My son has one (itty bitty). My GRANDdaughter has one (we won't get into that). I wouldn't be surprised if my daughter did, but she's bright enough not to tell me.

They're just so...permanent.