Tattoo You....

When the Great and General Court finally legalized tattoo parlors...did any of the assembled representatives stop and wonder if the Commonwealth actually had any talented tattoo artists on tap?
No joke dear readers I went to the beach this weekend, both Horse Neck and Newburyport, and in every case the joint was swarming with lousy tattoos.
"Lions" adhering to someone's calve...and looking all the world like the king of beasts was pulled out of the deep end of the pool at the last minute. Treacly faded roses on the usual stount ankles, crapulous bits of barbed wire entwined around biceps..in all a disheartening experience.
Worse yet everyone had one, and they were all wretched tatttoos.
My eleven year old nice could draw better kitsch and does.
I think that anyone who can't hack it on tattoo row in Hampton New Hampshire must be summarily exiled to suburban Boston to make their living as best they can.
Such is the lesson of Independence Day 2004.