jason and i don’t get along

think you like friday the 13th?

work in a tattoo shop!

i swear, no day annoys the fuck out of me and my boss quite like friday the 13th. for the longest time we chose to ignore it, but a couple of years ago we gave in and haven’t looked back since…

…and i mean that in the best and worst kind of way.

you see, historically friday the thirteenth is looked at as a bad thing. dates back long before a guy named jason hacked up a summer campsite…but it was inspired by it. various theories arise as to why it’s supposed to be unlucky, but the theme remains the same – it’s bad, so think bad things when it happens…

…which is where our industry comes into play.

as the “anti-establishment” industry (before dave navarro and kat von motherfucking d tried to change that) tattoo shops have been known to embrace and glorify the negative to a degree, so they tended to turn friday the 13th into their own calendar inspired celebrations…so that day that others cringe over we would hug and high-five. er go, it became “customer appreciation day”. if you’ve been loyal to your tattoo artists and/or shop, come in on friday the 13th and we’ll give you a tattoo that would normally cost eighty bucks or so for thirteen dollars…thanks for the business, and continue to support us!

nice theory.

like all good things, money-grubbing crumb-snatchers ruin shit (that last part came from my buddy ronny veritas, a ten year tattoo artist verteran from boston where they don’t bullshit) and all of a sudden these little fuckers that think $500 for an iPhone number whatever the fuck that lasts three years is okay but more than a fifty bucks for a tattoo that lasts till you meet jesus is insane start blowing up the shop phone wanting to know if we have a special ’cause it’s friday the thirteenth and shit…

…and then freak the fuck out when we don’t. my answer this last friday?

“well, i’ve got a two hour wait with six artists working WITHOUT a special, so why do we need one?”

that pissed ’em off…and i don’t care.

look, folks – typically, you get what you pay for. if you want a “hook-up” on friday the thirteenth, be in good with your artist. most of the artists that did the special in february of this year (at least in our company) will NOT be doing it in march…and the ones that do will allow a special FEW to get a cheap tattoo as a “thank you” for all the business they’ve brought in, but nobody else. the greedy fucks have ruined it for the rest, which is typically how america works these days (sad as that is). and then we have a break till november…and then not again till mid-2016.

and to be honest, i don’t care. the only time i REALLY pimped this was when we tied in with a kids toy drive at x-mas, and that was worth it. but if it ain’t for the kids or the loyal customers, fuck off – we don’t owe you shit…and if you have a problem with that, i’m okay with it.