Inked

"You will have it the rest of your life." says the various voices of friends and family when I mentioned that I wanted to add some color to my skin. Tattoos seem to have a bad reputation, but their reputation does not seem to have an impact on many young people.

To some it is a way to memorialize a lost loved one, or to have a friendly reminder permenately on you to remind you of your morals and not to stray. Other just think it would be awsome of have a tattoo. With more and more people throughout the years getting 'inked', many professions and jobs are allowing the hire of people who have visible tattoos. But as for the Hamilton County police station, thier sheriff is not alright with inked officers. Just recently, the police officers had short sleeve uniform shirts added to thier dress code for those hot summer days. Officers who direct traffic and work outside most of the time, are allowed to wear short sleeve shirts to help make the hot summer sun more bearable and keep them from gettin to hot. Sheriff of the Hamilton County Simon Leis stated that he wanted officers that have visible tattoos to wear long sleeve shirts when they are working. "gennerally tattoos are associated with motocylce clubs, that's not the image of law enforcement." Sheriff Leis tells the Cincinnati Enquirer. This dress code change is not sitting so well with the Fraternal Order of Police Ohio Labor Council. The council believe that this dress code change for tattooed officers can have an affect on thier health when it comes to working outside in the summer sun. The uniforms are a dark color and for those who are know fmailiar with thier colors, dark colors attact/ absorb sunlight more than lighter colors (want proof, wear a black outside in 90 degree weather). The 37 officers that have visible tattoos will have to don these long sleeve shirts when working outisde and this new demand of long sleeve shirts will cost over $4,000.

Tattoos are showing up more on the youth than ever before, which leave people questioning if people with tattoos will be able to hold a professional desk job.  For now it seems that the best way to be taken seriously is to cover up.