Is your Tattoo Artist or Piercer knowledgeable or just full of themselves?

The vast majority of tattooers and body piercers have no proper medical training.  Most information relating to things that typically go wrong during and after a procedure is passed from one person to another, whether during an apprenticeship or working along side someone who has experience in their profession.

I am NOT saying that you should avoid getting tattooed or pierced by someone who lacks medical knowledge.  However, you need to take this into consideration when getting medical advice if a problem arises as a result of your tattoo or piercing.
When in doubt, seek professional medical attention.

Ignorance and Arrogance are NOT the norm!

When we get a tattoo it is something that will be on our bodies for life.  Every time you see it, a wide range of memories are triggered.  Most people will remember why they got it, where they got it, who did it and whether it was a positive experience or not.  The staff of the shop you choose will ultimately control whether you have positive or negative memories when you look at your tattoo and reminisce.  There are several negative personality traits that are commonly attributed to tattoo artists and shop staff  in general, that are accepted as the norm.

The hypocrisy of price wars in Tattooing and Piercing

This goes along with my previous post, but for some reason I didn't include it there.

Price wars have been running rampant for the past couple of years as a result of so many people feeling they are too good to work for someone else.  A person decides they are going to open their own shop so that they can keep all the money, don't have to answer to anyone and can do things their way.  In addition to adding another shop to the over saturated market, they drop their prices lower than everyone else.  

Next thing you see is other shops attacking the cheap pricing being offered by these idiots, which is great.  Educate the public on the dangers associated with cheap tattoos and piercings!!!  But NOOOO...what do they do now?  Lower their prices to the same level.  Rather than have some respect for yourself, your clients and your art form, just drop your standards...yeah, that will show them!  All this is doing is cheapening something that was once respected in a way to show who's boss.