the illustrated people

when i was a kid the only tattooed person i remember seeing was on the cover of ray bradbury's book the illustrated man. now i realize that part of the reason i did not encounter many tattooed people was because i lived in the midwest. but still. i dont think that tattoos were as much the rage years ago as they are now. it seems that so many seemingly "normal" folk have them. what are these people thinking? i realize that as a jew that the torah forbids tattoos , but lets get real. who wants to voluntarily inflict pain upon one's self? i for one do not. and does any twenty-something consider how ridiculous these tattoos will look when they are eighty? tattoos arent so easily removed . what looks hip at twenty-two is extremely un-hip at eighty. then again the only thing hip at eighty is a hip replacement. but you catch my drift.