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Posted on 01/27/2005 12:50:51 PM PST by Dashing Dasher
Kelly Namowicz has a plan for the rest of her life.
"I want to go the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco," she says. "I want to be a professional chef."
But until now, there were 14 things standing in her way: tattoos that once almost covered her hands and arms, forcing her to wear long sleeves to job interviews to avoid being stigmatized.
"People judge you," Namowicz says. "People don't want to admit it, but it happens."
Now, the tattoos are almost gone, thanks to a city program called Clean Slate. It pays for laser treatments that erase the tattoos, and help wipe away the past. Namowicz says her kids helped her decide to do it.
"I want to be that positive role model for them," she says.
Now in its tenth year, Clean Slate is targeted at helping young people turn their lives around.
"You've got to be 14 to 25, live in San Jose, and you have to have gang-related tattoos in the exposed parts of the body," said project coordinator Juan Avila. "That's hands, neck, wrist, face, arms."
That made Victor Guizar a prime candidate. Just 24 years old, Victor has been incarcerated for a third of his life -- beginning at age 13. He has tattoos on his arms, chest, neck, and head. He even shows us some in his mouth. Most of his tattoos he got behind bars, and almost all are gang related. But he's leaving that life behind because most of his friends are drug addicts, in prison, or dead.
"I told my homies, 'My life is going to be different now,'" he says. "They said, 'We've been waiting for that.'"
The procedure just takes a few minutes. It stings, and leaves a mark like a sunburn that eventually wears off. But people like Victor Guizar say it's a small price to pay for starting over.
Ping
> Your local tax dollars at work....
All things considered, zapping gang tattoos off someone so they can get a better job, become productive taxpayers instead of continuing to be social parasites...
Tattoo removal will be bigger business in years to come when Gen X matures and realizes that 25 lizards and a Harley on your body isn't much fun anymore
I bet you a dollar they get more tattoos within a year.
Small price to pay, to help these former knuckleheads straighten out. Cheaper than a prison cell, anyhow.
Can't IMAGINE why....
"People judge you," Namowicz says. "People don't want to admit it, but it happens."
Of course they do! People will always judge you rightly or wrongly... its called life. Why parents let their kids mark themselves up in their teens is beyond me.
I think this is a good thing. I went to grad school with some kids who were heavily tattooed and it was keeping them from being promoted. Even an ankle tattoo was a problem for the girls who had to wear black stockings when it was 90 degrees due to company policy that did not allow one to show a tattoo.
I always used to say, Tattoos are forever...
When your grandkid ask why grandma has a skull on her arm.... What do you plan to tell them?
There are some stupid youths out there who get them and they are not even in gangs but down the line learn it wasnt so cool after all.
There are worse things we waste tax payer monies on and if that can help someone blend in and get a JOB I'm OK with it too.
>Your local tax dollars at work....
All things considered, zapping gang tattoos off someone so they can get a better job, become productive taxpayers instead of continuing to be social parasites...<
Both statements are correct. The answer might be for the person to have to agree to pay back the money it costs for the procedure once they have a productive job. Make them sign some sort of contract or something.
WHat's funny is that in some states you do not have to tell your parents you are getting an abortion but you are required to get their permission to get a tattoo.
Crazy isnt it!
The key is to ponder what you can live with for the rest of your life. I have two very tasteful tatoos, both of which were obtained after at least a year of thinking about it. Also, get them in places that are not obvious and can be easily concealed at appropriate times.
I talked with a young man having tattoo removal done with lasers. He said it hurt worse than getting the tattoos.
Or maybe a Harley logo superimposed on an eagle. Covering my whole back.
I can't decide.
Going up we were poor and our apartment burnt down and finally we convinced my Mom to go to the Red Cross and get some assistance so we could move into a new apartment.
She finally did and when back on her feet she paid them back.
She didn't have to. There was no contract. No one even asked her to do so. It's just the way my mother is.
Now she has three middle class kids all taking care of her.
That and a body-putty skin repair bizness for all the piercings.
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