Here’s an unpopular opinion.

I, for one, have seen way too many tattoos this summer.

I’m not such a huge fan of body defacing, but I respect your right to walk around with ivy etched into your arm.

I certainly don’t begrudge the tattoo artists. Some of their work is ingenious and would look excellent on canvass. They are obviously filling a need in our community.

That said, I think roses look very nice in vases, but not as nice on the side of someone’s face. Serpents are great in works of fiction. On the expanse of an overweight man’s back, they lose their luster. That’s the other problem: Way too many people are exposing parts of their skin that needn’t be exposed but for them trying to show off their tattoo.

OK, so maybe I’m a prude, but let’s face it, is this just another fad? Maybe I should direct one of my underlings to get into the tattoo removal business, because in a decade, that’s going to be the next big thing. Remember, roses wilt over time, especially when the bodies they are engraved into, reach middle age.

When I was a kid, tattoos were for motorcycle gang members, sailors and perhaps an occasional murderer or two. The work of police is much more difficult today, because if a crime was committed, they used to be able to just round up the handful of people who had tattoos. One of them had to have done it.

I’ve even seen Rosaries tattooed on people. Don’t they still make the ones they used to have, or do kids in Catholic school all have to get them branded on?

It used to be that having a tattoo set you apart from the crowd. If you were having trouble describing someone, you could say, “You know, the guy with the tattoo.” Now, it’s the other way around. “Oh yeah, he’s the guy without the tattoo,” they say about me.

*** And since I’m making unpopular opinions today, I hope that people who refuse to get the COVID-19 vaccine will come to the realization that they alone are keeping this virus alive. It would be gone but for them.

I’ve heard it said that making them get the vaccine takes away their personal freedom. You don’t have the freedom to keep spreading this. My guess is more and more situations will arise where your freedoms will hurt society and rules will have to be put in place. At least have the courtesy to wear a mask if you aren’t vaccinated.