1. You know that is permanent, right?

In all the time it took me to come up with something -- a word or a picture --that I wanted to put somewhere on my body through a needle and ink, do you really think I wouldn't consider the fact that it is indeed permanent?

2. That won't look good when you are older.

Well, lucky for you, I probably won't be strutting around in a bikini when I am 72 and sagging in places I shouldn't be. And if it really bothers you that much, then don't look and be grateful it is not your body!

3. It's unprofessional.

Welcome to the 21st century, where you can walk around the mall and count more than a dozen people with tattoos. It has become much more socially accepted in and outside of the workforce to have tattoos. And even if it is still not accepted in some professions, that is why long sleeves and long pants are a wonderful invention.

4. Your parents let you do that?

The age restriction for tattoos is 18 unless you have parent approval. So for me personally, no, they did not approve, because they did not have a say. As members of the baby boomer generation, they greatly disapprove of my choice to have six tattoos by the age of 20. But, thankfully, it is not their body. And even if they did approve of it, what difference does it make?

5. What happens when you regret it?

In today's day and age, if it comes to it, I can get them removed. For quite the cost, yes, but if necessary, it can be done. But in all honesty, when the time comes around for me to potentially regret them, I think there are a lot of other things I will have regretted by then that are far more important. I might regret going to college, I might regret my choice of a profession, I might even regret who I choose to marry. So somehow, in all of that, my possible regret of a tattoo I can easily hide seems extremely low on my priority list.

6. What is the point of a tattoo?

What is the point of art? That depends on who you ask. Some people are covered in images that they get because they make them happy, because they like they way they look, because it is their body to do with as they please. Some people get them for sentimental value. Some tattoos have so much meaning that any stranger passing judgement would never understand.

7. Why would you do something so painful?

I believe the quote is, "a moment of pain for a lifetime of happiness." So yes, depending on where you get the tattoo and what the tattoo is, if there is color or shading and so on and so forth, all factor in on how much it hurts. Not to mention if you have a high pain tolerance. I don't know many people who get tattoos strictly because they enjoy the pain, usually they try to see past the pain for the permanent result that they will enjoy for the rest of their lives.