Marked for life

Are tattoos really the best way to express oneself?

They started out as the trademark symbol of biker gangs, the permanence of the marking being a metaphor that members were in for life. But now, one of the first questions thrown out when getting to know someone is, “do you have any tattoos?”

I don’t understand the appeal. Maybe I’m a rarity, but my interests change quite frequently, so I think I’d begin to regret getting a tattoo within a year of its completion. I also feel that if I were supposed to have something permanent on my body, I’d have been given a birthmark.

When getting a tattoo,...