Box #18

The focal point in my fieldsite would be the tattoo chair. Walking into the tattoo parlor to get a tattoo is an exciting thing and a right of passage for some. However, when the tattooist is done setting up equipment and they call you in, the first thing you see is that chair, it is the kind of feeling you get when you step into the dentists office. The doctor will call you in and you focus on the chair you do not know what to expect when you sit down, will i have a cavity? Do I brush well enough? Does my dentist know what he/she is doing? This feeling is the same for a tattoo parlor. Not knowing what to expect when getting a tattoo is a rush. Many people who don't have tattoo's including myself before I got one would often ask the tattoo community what it felt like? Did it hurt? However, you would never get the same answer from everyone. Some would say it didn't hurt at all some would say it was worse than child-birth and others were less radical and would say it was painful yet tolerable. So, when approaching this chair, and sitting in it a million questions run through your mind, will it hurt? Is my tattoo artist experienced? Is he/she gentle with the needle or do they press harder than normal? Or is this really what I want to do? Do I want this on my body forever? As a person with personal experience with getting a tattoo, this is the way I felt and I also feel like it is almost impossible for someone to not feel or think anything when sitting in that chair.