A tattoo is an oxymoron: a permanent fashion item. My kids can't believe what we used to wear when I was their age. (It makes me laugh, too.) I look around at

A tattoo is an oxymoron: a permanent fashion item. My kids can't believe what we used to wear when I was their age. (It makes me laugh, too.) I look around at every garage sale and see $5 items that used to be considered quite elegant. I think of the hairstyles, room styles, humor styles, political causes, hobbies, relationships, and so much more that have flowed past like a river and disappeared around the bend. Thank goodness, I'm not stuck today having to continue making any fashion statements I might have chosen years ago. I tell my kids that I don't care if they get tattoos as long as they are the temporary kind. Maybe adults should switch to temporary tattoos, too. Treat them like any other form of fashion statement: make the statement you want when and where you want, then change when you want something else (and later you probably will want something else.)