A couple months ago, I did something a little spontaneous and I feel like I’ve reached the point where I can genuinely reflect on the experience. Allow me to set the scene:
One sunny Friday the 13th, my best friend, Melissa, who had graduated last semester, was back in Oz for the weekend. Melissa, our third best friend, Jordyn, and I had planned out a wholesome, fun day a week in advance. We were going to have lunch at Fajita Grill and go thrift shopping. Everything was going as planned until we were looking at shoes in Thrifty Shopper and I casually mentioned how I was thinking about getting a Friday the 13th tattoo that day. This was true; I had learned about the Friday the 13th tattoo tradition months before and had always known I would get one someday. However, about a week prior, I decided that I wasn’t ready to commit to it yet.
Back to the story — Melissa’s eyes lit up and she gasped, “Wait, I’ve always wanted to do that!” she shouted. Then, Jordyn chimed in and told us that she had heard that a shop in Oswego was participating in the tattoo holiday and having a flash sale. We immediately had a moment.
Jordyn eventually pulled up the flyer and Melissa was like, “Wait, I will do this right now.” We went to the car to look at the flash sale options and Melissa fell in love with one of them. So, the adrenaline is pumping at this point and we’re like okay, but are we really gonna do this?
And then we looked up where the shop was.
It was less than a mile away.
That is a sign, come on.
Next thing you know, we’re at an ATM prepping our pockets for our new tattoos.
At this point, I already had three tattoos so I wasn’t nervous, but this was Melissa’s first, and I was excited for her. Also, as you probably know, tattoos are addicting and I am always itching for a new one, so I was simply just not about to pass up this opportunity. Okay, so let’s just all accept that it was an intense moment and I could not say no.
Anyways, the shop was packed and only one artist was doing the flash sale. Waiting was really fun, though. We saw some of our friends and classmates and chatted with a bunch of strangers, too. I think we waited a total of six hours before it was our turn, but it was worth it. We love some quality girl time, no matter where it is.
Now, let’s get into the tattoo I chose to get. The backstory you need to know is that I have a tattoo on the inside of my foot — I’ll insert pictures to make it more clear — that ended up healing TERRIBLY. I got it done during winter, so I had socks on 24/7 while it was healing and it just peeled off essentially. I know I’ll probably get it retouched in the future, but I just don’t care enough right now. Anyways, this botched tattoo is the most visible out of the three I had at the time and also my corniest one. So, it’s basically the one everyone sees and also the one I am least proud of. Whenever someone looks at it I just wanna be like, “Ah, I have these other beautiful, unique tattoos too I swear.” I still love it and it’s cute, but it’s just not my favorite. So, when I was going to get this Friday the 13th tattoo, I was struggling to decide on a placement. In the end, I decided to put it in the same place as the botched one on the opposite foot.
I made this decision because I know I will want more, larger tattoos in the future and there are not a lot of places left on my body where I actually want to put them. So, I figured if I was going to put it in this more visible place, I wanted it to be something simple with an obvious meaning. When I looked at the flash sale options, the only one that spoke to me and seemed obvious enough was a number 13. Tons of people were getting the 13 that day and I figured if people saw it they would understand that it was some type of Friday the 13th thing.
I haven’t received a lot of feedback from people yet; no one really takes the time to question it — except for my family, who are just so confused of how it has any meaning at all. Everyone there that day was gently pushing me towards other options, but I don’t know, man, the 13 just spoke to me.
So, yeah. Here are my foot tats in all their glory.
I genuinely do not regret this tattoo at all. I know it’s a little stupid, but the memories of the day I got it with some lifelong friends are so worth it. I never do spontaneous, questionable things, so this was something fun I wanted to just do. Even though I sat there for six hours before getting it, I didn’t want to overthink it at all. Maybe that’s bad, but I’m cool with it. If I end up hating it some day I’ll just put on some socks and hide ‘em all.