Some one in my life has done something that goes against the very fiber of my being, but for which I am not allowed to criticize them. Now, this isn't something serious, it's minor really. The problem is that it forms evidence for other opinions I hold and leads me to believe that maybe I was giving this person too much credit for progress along their personal journey toward becoming a worthwhile human being.

This person who shall remain unnamed has acquired a tramp-stamp. As though that were not bad enough, this mark of imbicility, this attempt at individuality through conformity, this symbol of her quest to become ever more firmly a sheep-like follower of the corporate myth of rebellion, has taken the trite form of a Celtic knot. I know that this person would argue the special meaning that symbol holds for her, but as far as I'm concerned she might as well have gotten a rose on her ankle, dolphin arm band, or star on her chest. It all means about the same thing. Maybe when I roll my eyes at tattoos I'm giving their bearers too much credit by assuming that they will one day learn to regret their youthful indiscretion. They'll grow up, come to their senses, and realize that they have to live with Tweety Bird on their wrinkled, sagging, 80-year-old hip, and that the mortician will be laughing at them. Is that too optimistic? Will these people honestly think that their tribal...well anything makes them look cool when they show it to their grandchildren? That's a scary thought, but perhaps another argument that evolution is selecting for stupidity.