I’m often complaining about the ubiquity of tattoos even though I have a few. It just seems a trend that has been watered down to the point of being meaningless—there’s no risk of social ostracization anymore.

But are tattoos totally meaningless? I was just served coffee by a barista at a corporate coffeehouse and she had a tattoo of what appeared to be a skeleton holding its heart in its hands while kneeling before another skeleton. Certainly its mild goriness and general reference to death seemed contrary to the image any corporation would like to present. So, maybe in some subversive way she’s defying her employer, refusing to kotow to the image of bland, wholesomeness they would doubtless like their employees to present. Or is the employer the real victor here? Despite all this gal’s affectations towards the dark side, she still has to get up in the morning, put on an apron with a logo and serve coffee.

Who knows?