8/10/09 5 iteractions

I work at a college; so the following interactions took place at events related to orientation.

"Nice sleeve:" African-American male, late teens,
Me: "Thank you."
M: "How much did it cost?"
Me: "Several hundered, but a friend of mine did most of it, so he hooked me up for free."
M: "Yeah, I wanna get some more work, this was my last piece." (shows me lettering on forearm).
Me: I noticed it while you were in the other line. I like what you did with the negative space."
M: That was the guy's idea."
Me: "Well, it was a good idea."
"Wow. I don't think I could do all of that." African-American female, 40's? Relative of M. (same last name on name tag)
Me: "Well, I see you've got some work." Pointing to tattoo on arm.
F: "Yeah, but I think this is it for me."
Me: "Never say never." (Smiling. We all laugh.)
Them: "Thank you."
Me: "No problem. Welcome to [name of school]"


Me: "Hi. Welcome to [campus building.]
"That's AMAZING." Caucasian male, 40's, staring at sleeve.
Me: "Thank you."
M (stands back to look from several angles.) "The detail, the color...wow."
Me: "I was very lucky, I had an amazing artist."
"How long did it take?" Caucasian female 40's, companion of M.
Me: "I worked on it off and on for several years, but most of it was done in about a year."
F: "Really?"
Me: "I was working in a tattoo shop; a friend of mine was an artist there, so we'd work on it whenever we both had time."
F: "What did your boss think?"
Me: "As long as we did it off the clock, he didn't care."
M: "Is there a bathroom here?"
Me: "Second floor, all the way to the back."
M; "Thanks."


"Nice tattoo." Hispanic female, early 20's.
Me: "Thanks."
F: "My foot itches." (she leans against the wall and sticks a finger in her shoe.)