The last time my siblings and I lunched together with our mother at Dayton's Sky Room restaurant, Mom chastised my brother. He'd scribbled, "Mom lunch noon," on his palm. The rest of us quickly dropped a hand to our laps so she couldn't see we, too, had done the same. Nothing got past Mom, though.
     Looking around the table, she said, "If God had wanted you to write on your hand, he wouldn't have invented paper." Even now, I get a twinge of guilt whenever I pen a reminder on my paw. I'm sure Mom is frowning at me from her vantage point in the hereafter.
     What would Mom think of all these tattoos? I often wonder. Once sported by men in the military and motorcycle gang members, body art has gone mainstream. They're no longer gender-specific, either. First, daring women had a demure butterfly inked on an ankle or shoulder but now, many have barbed wire circling an upper arm or a dragon visible above the waistband of their jeans. Some cover their skin with entire collections of art.
     My mother scowled and clucked her tongue when I, a high school junior, begged to have my ears pierced. Had I asked for a tattoo, she would have locked me in my room and thrown away the key.
     According to a December article in USA Today, Pew Research Center reports more than one-third of those aged 18-25 have tattoos; as does 40% of 26 to 40-year-olds. That's a lot of ink. Tats are sported by business people, celebrities and homemakers who adorn their bodies with tigers, Zen symbols and meaningful mementos. Movie star Angelina Jolie wears a saying that is painful to look at if you are needle-phobic. Imagine sitting still long enough to have, "Know Your Rights," inscribed in the tender area below your neck. Amazingly, it is one of the shorter inscriptions worn by Jolie.
     According to the USA Today article, tire manufacturer, Dunlop, has hired a tattoo artist to etch its name, logo or other tire-inspired designs on attendees at trade shows. The service is free and partakers walk away with another freebie-a set of tires. The Minneapolis Star Tribune detailed the same phenomenon: the body as advertisement. The newspaper reported that companies are willing to pay a lot of money to peddle their products on a person, even if it's only a temporary arrangement. A Hooters' waitress earned $5000 wearing the leaseyourbody.com logo on her forehead for a month.
     According to company founder, Alex Fisher, more than 2500 people have signed up to be display ads since Lease Your Body's launch last March (www.leaseyourbody.com, for you brave souls). An article on CNet News.com quoted Fisher as saying, "Each is willing to rent out space on one of six body parts-neck, forehead, upper arm, forearm, hand, stomach or lower back-for rates from $100 up to $5,000." Fisher goes on to say, "To get $5,000, there are certain factors. Being attractive would help-having an outgoing personality and being in the right place at the right time." I knew there was a hitch.
     Besides, Mom would cluck her tongue and tsk tsk. She'd say that if God had intended for us to rent out our foreheads for product placement, he wouldn't have invented billboards.