Your sitting in a tattoo chair getting some work done by an artist you may or may not admire. Your having a great conversation talking about all kinds of life shit. You feel like you have a good rapport with the artist and start talking about tattooing, go figure. You get on ok but then out of nowhere, you say it. you slipped up and said the worst thing you could have to a respected professional tattoo guy... " So what kind of gun is that?" NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! Get ready, your about to get the biggest tattoo lecture about nothing. "ITS NOT A GUN MANN!! GUNS KIIIIILLLL PEEEOPLEE!!! ITS A MACHINE MAAAAAAN!! BLAAAH BLAAAH PURIST BLLAAH BLAH PRECISE TOOL BLAH EXTENSION OF A HAND BLAAAAAA".
Honestly. . . who gives a fuck? Ive heard tattooers bitch at clients and other tattooers many a time over this. Every time it happens I've heard the self righteous dudes go on about how it's not a gun and how it needs to be called one thing or another. How It's disrespectful to the craft and culture etc. In the end it just doesn't matter does it? Its the thing that makes the needle go up and down really fast. call it a skin raper for all I care.
Now I get it, hand made machines are beautiful. There are talented machine builders in the industry. It also makes sense to know all about the machines that are your lively hood. I get that. But to assume everybody should be up to par with the lingo of a culture that you take special interest in is dumb and exclusivist. It doesn't give anybody the right to belittle someone ESPECIALLY people paying you to put fucking artwork, YOUR artwork on them for life. And it doesn't make you look cooler either.
All im saying is, its small time shit. Twitch your eye and move the fuck on. It doesn't matter what you call the Goddamn thing, it still works its magic when used the right way. What Bobby called your precious is irrelevent. And also I love you.
-Tyson
