thought of the day 2009 07 21 - tattoos

Friend of mine just got a new tattoo. I don't understand the fascination. I can kind of understand the idea of some tribal patterns if you belong to some Polynesian or other indigenous tribe, but a heart on your ankle? What the fuck for? The way I figure, tattoos are basically just way to pay money to someone to give you pain that you'll regret 40 years later when your skin sags and in the mean time only provides a method positive ID for any witnesses when the cops round up the usual suspects.