Lindsey Maurer, a SJSU student, said the experience wasn't as bad as she expected. Hatcher and Maurer are some of many college students who make the decision to get a tattoo. Sarah Newman, a political science major at SJSU, said that although getting her tattoo was painful, she has no regrets. One concern about getting a tattoo is whether sterile procedures are used at the tattoo parlor. Bullock said his shop uses new needles for each customer, which is standard practice for most tattoo shops.
People get tattoos for many different reasons.
For Maurer, getting a tattoo was just a spontaneous event rather than something planned for a long time. I had an idea about what I wanted, and when we went to the shop, I saw this fairy design, and the artist changed it a little to make it exactly what I wanted. Jason Vogen, who has a tattoo of a VW symbol surrounded by a sun, said he hadn't planned on getting his tattoo that day even though he'd always wanted to get one. Vogen said the pain wasn't as bad as he expected. Tattoos can be done just about anywhere on the body, and Bullock said two of the most common places are the biceps and the legs.