 We should also note some of the points that could be made in defense of tattoo art, and self-expression more generally. First, whenever one “seizes the day” – putting down the books to go to a party, moving countries to pursue a romance – one is sacrificing future options for the sake of savoring the present. Such trade-offs are part of any human life worth living. Second, even if you sometimes owe it to yourself to keep your options open, it might matter how they are closed. Consider the gay man who refuses to hide his sexuality to get ahead in the office, or the black woman who wears her curly natural hair in interviews even though some potential employers see it as “unprofessional.” Here self-respect seems to tell in favor of acting in ways that foreclose one’s options, because the closing is achieved not by one’s choice, but through others’ bigoted reactions. This may be closer to how some people (especially those from cultures with traditional tattoos, as in Samoan culture) think of being denied a job on the basis of body art: the problem isn’t teenage recklessness, but arbitrary discrimination.