Tattoos and Drinking - UPDATE

Well hasn't today been an interesting day. I happened to be minding my own business having a quick read on Twitter when I saw a post by Justin Trudeau MP.

For those of you outside of Canada he is a member of the Liberal Party of Canada and has a seat in the House of Commons. He also happens to be the son of, in my opinion, one of the greatest Canadian Prime Ministers of my time - Pierre Elliot Trudeau.

When I read his tweet (yes it is actually him that tweets), I figured that I would respond back about this blog post, considering it has him in it.

I figured it was worth a shot. To my surprise, unlike many many other "famous people" on Twitter, he responded. It was a quick response, but a response indeed. That thrilled me.

Here is what he said. "That pic is of my old tattoo. It's much bigger now. But agree with the post." Now it may not sound like much, but it really impacted me in a positive way.

This is coming from a man who was able to yell out in the middle of a Parliamentary Session and call Federal Environment Minister, Peter Kent a "piece of shit" and get away with it. He quickly followed up in the media scrum with a quick apology and immediately was able to put the focus back on the issue which was that the Conservitives blocked the other parties from attending a conference that Peter Kent had blamed them for not attending.

Justin Trudeau MP, a man that I have a lot, and I mean A LOT of respect for now.
Good on you Justin Trudeau.


Original Post:
An article was brought to my attention by @SandraEMartin in this week's Huffington Post about a people that have tattoos drink more than those without them.

Hmmmmm. So what exactly does that mean? Does it mean that everyone with a tattoo is a drunk? Of course not.

Here are excerpts from the article that describes how the study was completed.

"The researchers asked nearly 3,000 young men and women as they were exiting bars on a Saturday night if they would take a breathalyzer test. Of those who agreed to take it, the researchers found that people with tattoos had consumed more alcohol than those without tattoos, the researchers said."

It also goes on to say that individuals with tattoos are "more likely to engage in risky behaviors, such as unprotected sex, theft, violence and alcohol consumption, compared to people without tattoos."

I want to tell you that I have two tattoos (both within the last 18 months).

Celtic Knot and Celtic Tree of Life on my Left Forearm

Let me go through the list and tell you what "risky behaviours" I have done.

1. Unprotected Sex - Draw your own conclusions (I have 2 kids and yes with my wife).
2. Theft - Do ketchup packages count?
3. Violence - Only when I'm playing video games and it's usually me getting my but kicked.
4. Alcohol Consumption - I'm a wine guy, so yes.

Sooooo, am I a risk to society? I think not.


Doing the study when people were leaving a bar on Saturday night? DUH! What did they expect? Did they ever think about asking the question to those individuals, are you driving? Because, here is why I would take a breathalyzer test for a study. It would tell me if I can drive home or not. It also doesn't say if it was excessive drinking or not. It just says more.


At one time, tattoos were for those that were either in the Navy or other branch of the military, have some type of indigenous ritual connection, or, dare I say it, enjoyed some time in the "pen".

Here is what I have to say about the study.

WAKE UP! This is 2012, for cripes sake. There are more people with tattoos, piercings and other types of body art than ever before. At all levels of business and society. Including Justin Trudeau, Liberal MP.

Tattoos have become mainstream, a thing of beauty and some of the artists that do this work are simply amazing at how they can transform your body, which I already view as a work of art on its own, into something spectacular.

Please don't get me wrong, there are a lot of really really bad tattoos out there.

Really? Was that a wise choice?

So do I think that we (those of us with tattoos) drink too much? I think they need to look at this study from a different perspective. Find those willing to be in the study and follow them over a longer period of time and track them longer term. Not on just one Saturday night.
In the mean time, maybe we should all branch out a little and have some fun. Just make sure that you have some common sense about it.

How about a tattoo? If you are thinking about getting one, one word of advice. Think long and hard about your choice of art and artist.

Not feeling that adventurous? Then simply go have a great glass of wine. Just be sure to share some with me because apparently I drink too much.

Enjoy a glass.
Matt