artistic responsibility

Being a tattoo artist is an amazing experience but with our talents also comes alot of responsibility,or atleast there should be.I as an artist have never shied away from helping people express themselves,regardless of how severe that expression may be.If I truly feel the customer is of sound mind and adamant about their decision.If a militant muslim walks in and wants "kill whitey" across his face......COOL lets do it!!! Same goes for brown pride,white power or fuck god. truly I think it's great if you really want it.At the same time I had a really sweet bus driver woman who was going through some pretty rough medical treatment,

that was really messin with her head,come in asking me to tattoo swastikas all over her. no fuckin way.....she was obviously not doin well mentally.I didn't take her money and ruin her life...instead i sat her down and talked her out of making a really bad choice.Same goes for the 18 year old from T.O. who just met the nicest skinhead who just got out of prison,so now she wants to get a pink swastika so he'll love her even more.God forbid her jewish parents see it, she'll be cut out of the family law firm money.....ha ha ha but seriously,some people just don't seem to grasp how permanent tattoos and piercings and implants really are.I honestly feel that it is my place to advise against poor decisions.I do this for love of my art,thank god it also pays the bills but ultimately I want to affect peoples lives in a positive manner.Not be a part of something that will cause pain or grief for years to come.Ultimately it is always in our power to say NO.please think before you ink...and if you don't, hopefully your artist will.and by the way.....YES, IT FUCKIN HURTS.......