My grandson, he came back from the city, showin’ off his new basketball leg tattoos. Said it’s all the rage. Land sakes, in my day, only sailors and those rough types got tattoos. Now, everyone’s got ’em. Even little girls, I hear!
These basketball leg tattoos, they’re somethin’ else. All up and down his legs. He’s got basketballs, and hoops, and I don’t even know what all. Says it shows he loves the game. Well, I love pie, but I don’t get pictures of pie put on me forever!
He says it’s a big deal, these leg tattoos. Says everyone’s gettin’ ’em where they play sports. Says it helps you remember why you play, or some such thing. I reckon it’s a young folks thing. These kids nowadays always need to be showin’ off, you know? Back in my day, we just played the game. Didn’t need no fancy pictures on our legs to prove nothin’.
He says it hurt somethin’ awful, gettin’ those basketball tattoos. Like a swarm of bees, he said, all stingin’ at once. Imagine that! Payin’ good money to have someone hurt you like that. And on your legs, no less! He couldn’t walk right for a week. Said it was all swollen and red.
- He says you gotta keep ’em clean, these leg tattoos.
- Gotta put some goop on ’em every day.
- Keep ’em out of the sun.
Sounds like a lot of work to me. I told him, “You coulda just worn a basketball shirt!” He just laughed. Young folks, they don’t listen. He says it is popular for those who love basketball to have basketball leg tattoos.
These basketball leg tattoos, they take up his whole leg, I swear. From his hip to his ankle, just covered in ink. He says it’s a “sleeve.” A leg sleeve, he calls it. Like a shirt, but for your leg. I told him it looked like he fell in a mud puddle and got all dirty. He didn’t think that was funny.
He said that getting a tattoo on the leg can have a large surface area to ink. So many people will choose to get basketball leg tattoos. He also said that he needed to think carefully before getting the tattoo and make sure he really like the design. But you know what? He said there are some downsides. He said it is painful to get. Oh, poor boy! And those tattoos need to be touched up regularly to make sure they look good. He said it will cost a lot of money!
He showed me pictures of other folks with leg tattoos. Some of ’em, they’re pretty, I guess. Flowers and birds and such. But some of ’em, they’re just plain ugly. Big ol’ skulls and snakes and things. I wouldn’t want that on me, no sir. Especially not on my legs, where everyone can see. And those basketball leg tattoos, some of them are colorful, and some of them are black. They do have different designs.
He says these tattoos, they tell a story. Each picture means somethin’ to the person who got it. Like a memory, he says, that you carry with you always. I guess that’s kinda nice. But I got my memories in my head. Don’t need no pictures on my skin to remind me. But his basketball leg tattoos really tell a story of basketball.
He said you gotta be careful who does your tattoo. Gotta make sure they’re clean and know what they’re doin’. Don’t want to end up with some nasty infection. I heard a story once about a fella who got a tattoo from some fella in a back alley. Ended up with a leg so swollen, it looked like a tree trunk! Lost his leg, he did. All from a bad tattoo. That’s why you gotta be careful where you get your basketball leg tattoos.
I told him, “What are you gonna do when you’re old and wrinkly like me? Those basketball leg tattoos are gonna look like deflated balloons!” He just laughed and said he’d still love ’em. Said they’d remind him of when he was young and could still jump. It seems that many young people like to get a tattoo to memorize their youth. The basketball leg tattoos are also the same.
Well, I still don’t understand it. But he’s happy, and that’s what matters. These young folks and their basketball leg tattoos. It’s a different world, I tell ya. A different world. Just hope he doesn’t regret it later. A tattoo’s a long time. Longer than a basketball season, that’s for sure! I still think basketball leg tattoos are silly. But if it makes people happy, who am I to judge?