She and her husband now look like circus freaks. Kind of mean, maybe, but highly accurate. They are largely covered in tattoos. He has grommets in his ears you could drive a Volkswagon through. They hang several pounds of scrap metal off of their faces and assorted other locations.
They are now over 25 and are interested in her getting a better job and him getting into a different line of work. They are not having any success at all, and yes, it's related to the body modification. They are genuinely nice people and I love them both. I wish they hadn't handicapped their futures.
If my kids graduate from college, are self supporting and decide to disfigure themselves, that's entirely their decision and I won't say a single word about it. But while they are on my dime, they can refrain. I hope the few extra years will give them a little wisdom. I work with college students, and in general, the first few years they are a whole lot more impulsive than when they graduate.
Now I've heard everything.
I was "punk" so it seemed like a really great tattoo idea then.
, etc, when they were in high school or shortly after. Then they were all back in the tattoo shop 5 years later, trying to hide them by getting different designs tattooed on top of them (cheaper than tattoo removal, which may not have been perfected back then, anyway). It doesn't work that well. You can still see the skull face in the rose that's now on my friend's shoulder blade. 
My son uses dad as an example of what not to do when it comes to tattoos. 
I couldn't agree more.
