This is the first time I've ever heard of someone regretting not getting a tattoo.

Some people even regret not having anything to regret

Who cares if others think it's a midlife crisis, do what makes you happy. I'm nearing 40 and still get a couple tattoos a year. I love the feeling of a new tattoo, it boosts my confidence and gives me a sense of accomplishment for sitting through the fairly painful process.

Yeah.. Do it.. i just turned 40th this year and got my first tattoo last year..

Don't allow your life to be defined by what you imagine other people will think about it..

Exactly. Part of the fun of tattoos is everyone thinking you look stupid and being able to practice the stoicism of not caring what other people think and focusing on the intrinsic joy of doing what you want.

I can do that without getting a tattoo though.

Midlife is when everyone starts doing cool stuff because theyve built up the income to service it

Do whatever you like, it’s your life

Yup.

John didn’t buy that classic car because he’s in a midlife crisis. He bought it because it’s been his dream car since he was 12, and, with the kids out of the house, he can finally get it without having a bad conscience. (It just costs $80k now instead of $8k back in 1972)

Unrelated, but one of the most interesting graphs I've ever seen was road deaths, by gender and age, when I was studying for my drivers license.

There's a huge, like 10x spike in male deaths, specifically at 50. Turns out a lot of people hit that age, think "oh fuck I'm 50", go and buy a really powerful car, and get in a bad crash.

So buy the car, but just keep the graph in mind haha.

Yeah same with motorbikes. Someone had a 125 when they were 16, hit 50 and decide to get a 1200cc superbike, then come off.

Three other problem is they haven’t ridden for 34 years, but feel like they are just as skilled as they ever were.

I looked up a premium car rental site once and saw that some vehicles there had an age restriction of... 40.

As in: you need to be past your thirties to rent this vehicle.

$8k is a crazy amount of 1972 money for a car.

It's the $3000 cars that are going for $80k.

Oddly enough, the luxury high end cars at $8k in 1972 is the equivalent of $60k in 2024. With average new car price being ~$48k today, if the average automobile price stayed the same from 1972 the average new car price would be $26k today.

Something went off the rails. Ah...tarrifs. nvm

Midlife is when everyone starts doing cool stuff because that's when the prefrontal cortex that inhibited you starts really breaking down.

Fun by any other name would still be fun

In a way, a midlife purchase is more smart financially than an early life purchase.

Do it. I’m early 40s, have several tattoos, and am about to get one wrist to shoulder. It’s never too late to do what you want in this regard.

Midlife crisis is a pejorative term for mortality perspective. Live your best life, you only get one, and what other people think matters very little (caveat being income source and partner(s)).

I'm almost out of my 40s and I definitely support you in doing whatever you like and not overthinking the midlife crisis thing.

That said, if I had the inkling (pun intended) to get a tattoo I would actually wait until this lymphoma association is verified, because if if it turns to be real, and then I get a lymphoma, I would feel very stupid. But then again, people smoke and do a lot of things that are objectively bad for their health. In short, I would not do it myself, but I would not judge you at all if you did.

If there is a link, I'd guess you're probably a lot safer getting tattooed at 50 than at 20 given you've (statistically) got much less time for any adverse effects to start showing up...

I don't know if I'd conclude it. What about the possibility of that the tattoo association is only at higher ages, because of some effect where younger people have a better immune system to ward off any immediate dangers of the tattoo ink and then it becomes inert. But getting it at 50, your body is less able to dispel the problematic compounds in the ink. Basically saying the ink's problems could just be front-loaded the first couple years. Without understanding those details (risk associated with when the tattoo was received and short-term vs. long term risk), I'd be wary about deciding 50 is safer than 20.

The linked study looks extremely weak, not really something that should influence decision making yet

I got my first at 42, I've only ever gotten positive comments. Except from my buddy who is a tattoo artist, he was upset he didn't get to give me my first one.

Why would you concern yourself with someone's perception of your motive for getting a tat?

The quantum (those dots and lines) part of my tattoo is stick and poke: https://s.h4x.club/jkupYOrX

I don't know why your comment appears to have been downvoted, I say go for it! "mid life crisis" is just a pessimistic way of saying "trying something new as an adult". If it makes you happy, and you're willing to accept some risk (which is a good thing!) then go get a tattoo.

Also, close to 50 is probably the new mid-life point anyway if you extend out the trajectory of health science thru the second half of your life. Chill out. :)

I had a similar issue, so I ended up getting a small abstract tattoo. Highly recommended.

It's never too late. It took me almost 18years of going back and forth until I did it.

Do it. Traditional thai tattoos look amazing and are much sharper. Who cares what others thing :)

You should do what you want.

That said, my friend with the most tattoos, basically every part of his body, arms, legs. Maybe his face and head don't have tattoos. When I told him I was thinking about getting one he told me "don't do it".

A heavily tattooed acquaintance told me the same thing when I was younger, and now that I've got several of my own I understand what he meant by it. He could tell my "thinking about getting one" was superficial, which is not a great starting point for getting inked. If you really want a tattoo you're going to get it regardless of any advice, so by telling me not to get one, he was trying to save me from what was (back then) potentially a bad decision.

Did you friend share a reason? For me, I love tattoos, but surely I would be tired of it in less than five years. Tough luck -- that shit is permanent. Plus, tats looks pretty awful on old people. I don't want to be that person.

I started getting them at 37, and haven’t looked back. You’re more likely to get ones you like now you’re a bit older. I got a triceratops on my forearm last year because it’s my favourite dinosaur, and also why not?

I'm 40, I got a sleeve done this year. I've never been more thrilled to get one. Get tattoos. It's your body, if the art is meaningful to you, why hold back?

I've been jokingly predicting to myself for quite a while now that a tattoo fashion is imminent of studios offering deliberately blurred designs so that the result looks as if it was done before the design became cool.

Go for it!

Have you seen the blurry mess a tattoo turns into 30 years later? You made a reasonable choice.

Have you seen the mess the human body turns into over the same time span?

Surprised at the number of people saying "just do it"!

For what it's worth I would never ink my body. Ever. I would sleep in the disposal hole of a porta potty first, that is how strongly I feel about it.

I have nothing against tattoos in general, many of my close friends have them. But I would never ever personally get one and can't imagine even considering it.

Why is that? Out of curiosity

I don't know exactly. Something about my feeling of "self" I think.

I’ve seen one being done on an ex-partner, the process is really interesting. Just take the mid-life crisis as an excuse to do it now, you will only get older and with more regrets

> I feel like doing it now looks like a midlife crisis type thing.

It sounds like you care a lot about what others think. It is never too late to stop doing that.

> I always wanted one of those Thai tattoos where they manually tap tap tap the design into your skin with a mallet.

Sounds absolute torture to me. But if you want that, hey, go for it. Never too late to decide for yourself what you want or don’t want.

On the bright side, you presumably have more developed taste and a bigger budget than your average tattoo client which means you could go get something really good.