Customizing the Body (PDF file) - Print My Tattoo

141 The Tattoo Relationship
the busy tattooist's profits. Touchup work is time-consuming but
does not generate additional income for the tattooist.
The appropriate receiving demeanor. which greatly facilitates
the tattooist's work and is expected and rigorously enforced by
tattooists. reqUires the tattooee to remain essentially motionless
and silent and to retain the posture determined by the tattooist.
Because stillness is such a virtue. tattooists typically discourage
the client from smoking, talking. or watching the tattoo process
("You don't need to see it. I need to see it. Youl1 have the rest of
your life to look at WOO). The best recipients are qUiet. relaxed,
malleable. and commonly stare into the middle-distance during
the process. Troublesome clients. on the other hand, jerk away.
attempt to engage the tattooist in conversation. or try to observe
the work. Without exception tattooists demand fairly rigid adherence
to this key behavioral expectation. The quality of clients' tattoos
is directly related to their maintaining this demeanor.
Intoxicated or drugged clients are most apt to display disrespect,
overtly Violate the norms of the tattoo setting, and fail to
adhere to the appropriate receiving demeanor. As seen in the previous
chapter. tattooists consistently see drunks as being their
most problematic customers. Most tattooists typically refuse to
work on people who are obViously intoxicated. Sometimes this
general rule is applied fleXibly, however, when the customer appears
to be sufficiently straight that the tattooist believes that the
customer is making a conscious decision, there is a chance to
make a significant profit, and a reasonable degree of control can
be maintained over the tattoo interaction. One interViewee. an apprentice
in an established shop. described an encounter in which
he effectively managed interaction with a drunken customer.
One time these two drunk guys come in. [Shop proprietor)
don't like to tattoo drunks, but he figured one wanted a big
tattoo and the other wanted a smaller tattoo. (He) could do the
big one and I could do the small one. This guy wasn't really.
like, fallin' down drunk-like "fuck-you-asshole" drunk. He
wanted something and if he wasn't going to get it he would beg
and plead until he got it. So, I was givin' him this tattoo and
he was movin' around so I was just pullin' on his arm. I