Don’t spend it all in one place

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July 30th, 2013 · 39 comments

Writes June in Georgia: “I like tattoos. A lot. I have several, and my grandparents got to see a *few* of them for the first time during my trip to visit them in California over Labor Day weekend. Let’s just say they were…less than thrilled.” Still, that that didn’t stop Grandma and Grandpa from slipping little Junie an envelope with a bit of cash for the trip home. “I can’t imagine what they are trying to tell me!” says June.

Meanwhile, Annika in Inuvik, Canada got this bill as part of her change from a cabbie. (She passed it on later that day when she bought lunch — handing it to the cashier note-side-down.)

FILED UNDER: gift · Grandma · money

39 responses so far ↓

#1 Beatus Mongous

What they don’t know will never hurt them.

Jul 30, 2013 at 5:27 pm rating: 7

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#2 Roto13

Get someone to write “Thanks, Grandma” in a sharpie on your back. Take a picture. Send it to Grandma.

Jul 30, 2013 at 5:35 pm rating: 80

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- #2.1 Jdaniel
  
  If it’s not going to be permanent, you might just use a felt pen versus a Sharpie.
  
  Jul 30, 2013 at 9:33 pm rating: 2
- #2.2 Raichu
  
  Perfect response. If Grandma has a sense of humor, she’ll laugh. xD
  
  Jul 31, 2013 at 9:54 am rating: 6
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#3 marpolejoel

& yes, us Canadians are somewhat clever….

Jul 30, 2013 at 5:47 pm rating: 0

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#4 Ajax

Finally–a good reason for giving store gift cards!

Jul 30, 2013 at 6:23 pm rating: 1

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- #4.1 chickey_soup
  
  which can just be sold for cash to buy ink.
  
  Jul 31, 2013 at 8:28 am rating: 3
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#5 Scotty

Well, at least Granny was hip enough to call it “ink”.

Jul 30, 2013 at 8:02 pm rating: 49

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- #5.1 redheadwglasses
  
  That’s what I thought, too!
  
  Jul 31, 2013 at 9:12 am rating: 3
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#6 Drug Abuse

As a former drug dealer with scruples, I would never accept payment with a bill that was clearly marked “not for drugs”. A man’s got to have standards, even if he’s a low-life coke-slinger.

Jul 30, 2013 at 10:10 pm rating: 37

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- #6.1 Gladystopia
  
  Does he have to have them if he’s a high-class coke-slinger?
  
  (Just out of my own personal curiosity, is why I’m asking. Also because I hope to one day date a coke-slinger and would like to know with which type I’m more likely to succeed.)
  
  Jul 31, 2013 at 12:55 am rating: 10
- #6.2 redheadwglasses
  
  A local tattoo artist refuses to do below the wrist or above the collar tattoos on anyone under 30.
  
  Jul 31, 2013 at 9:13 am rating: 21
- #6.3 kermit
  
  If you’re a high class coke-slinger, you only take a black American Express and charge it to a Cayman Island shell corporation.
  
  You do not, under any circumstances accept cash, let alone piddly notes.
  
  Or so I’ve heard. Yeah, that’s it; heard it somewhere.
  
  Jul 31, 2013 at 3:08 pm rating: 11
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#7 CG

If they traded the money with each other, June could get a new tattoo and Annika could get drugs. There, problem solved.

Jul 31, 2013 at 6:48 am rating: 26

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#8 Tesselara

Gram is still funding ink, if you think about it.

Jul 31, 2013 at 8:16 am rating: 5

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#9 Lil'

With a few strokes of a pen, June could make that note say, “Do Not Forget Ink!”

Jul 31, 2013 at 8:27 am rating: 11

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#10 Raichu

*shrug* if she’d like to give a gift that isn’t a tattoo, I don’t see anything wrong with that. (Though I think it’s better form to actually buy people gifts if you’re going to do it that way and if there are things you do not want them to have.)

I do find it kind of annoying, though, when older people are all “zomg DISAPPROVE” of choices like tattoos. It’s not like it’s on their own bodies.

Jul 31, 2013 at 9:57 am rating: 4

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- #10.1 The Elf
  
  I don’t get it the tattoo disapproval either, Raichu. If you don’t like ink, don’t get a tattoo. It’s that simple. My parents and extended family of the previous generation don’t like my tattoos either, but over the years I think they’ve just decided to live and let live, because I haven’t heard a word about it in years.
  
  And I don’t see anything wrong with a cash gift for a purpose, either. I’d rather see it spun positively rather than negatively, though. Give a gift of cash and say “For new clothes!” or “Get yourself a new book on me” or something. Whether you put strings on it or not, any gift of cash can be used for whatever because once it is given it is out of the gift giver’s control.
  
  Jul 31, 2013 at 10:22 am rating: 7
- #10.2 Brian H
  
  Getting tatted up is all on the person getting it done but I do have to express reservations when people get them on their neck or face. There are times when you have to get a straight job and squares do not like neck or face tattoos. Tattoos are more accepted than ever now but there is a limit. Your employment opportunities will suffer otherwise.
  
  Jul 31, 2013 at 11:32 pm rating: 4
- #10.3 The Elf
  
  Sure. And I admit that I would question a friend or relative that decided to get a tattoo above the collar or below the wrist for exactly the reason you state. But most ink is easily covered by an interview suit, and I bet June’s are too. Typically, when people DISAPPROVE they aren’t talking about someone who has tattooed puzzle peices all over his head. They’re talking about average, everyday, very common tattoos on shoulders, arms, legs, backs, chests, hips, etc.
  
  Aug 1, 2013 at 6:50 am rating: 3
- #10.4 Poltergeist
  
  I’ve heard rumors that some men get their wee willie winkies tattooed. Do you think this could affect their employment prospects?
  
  Aug 1, 2013 at 11:51 am rating: 5
- #10.5 Poltergeist
  
  And do you think Grandma would approve?
  
  Aug 1, 2013 at 11:52 am rating: 3
- #10.6 The Elf
  
  Only if they are porn stars, Poltergeist, and that might just be a selling point!
  
  I’ve heard that in order to get a wee willie winky tattooed, the willie winky in question can’t be at its most wee. It must stand proudly as it submits to the needle.
  
  Aug 1, 2013 at 1:01 pm rating: 6
- #10.7 Raichu
  
  Well…yes. That’s part of my point. Employers don’t like tattoos. Lots of people don’t like it when others get tattoos.
  
  Are you saying you disapprove of tattoos because they’ll stop the tattooee from getting a job (which isn’t really your business), or because you don’t like the tattoos?
  
  Aug 4, 2013 at 10:58 am rating: 0
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#11 redheadwglasses

NOt regarding this PA note but about others: Article in my paper today on a guy who trespassed into a college office in Colorado and is caught on camera raiding the fridge/freezer to steal lunches. Sort of creates a whole new aspect of PAN, perhaps.

Jul 31, 2013 at 10:11 am rating: 3

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#12 redheadwglasses

But… how cute is that that they gave her some cash for her trip home? Hope it’s more than the $2 bill I usually got from my grandma!

Jul 31, 2013 at 11:41 am rating: 5

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#13 Punter

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

You mean Arctic inflation doesn’t apply to dime bags? Hell, I’d buy drugs up there if they cost less than a tomato.

Jul 31, 2013 at 12:40 pm rating: 3

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- #13.1 marpolejoel
  
  No worry, tomatoes up there are a $10 & a toonie…
  
  Aug 1, 2013 at 1:27 am rating: 1
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#14 wonkette

Is the “not for drugs” note both addressed to CML and signed by CML, and therefore a “note to self”? Does a “note to self” still count as PA?
Or does CML mean something else?

Jul 31, 2013 at 12:45 pm rating: 11

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- #14.1 CremeBrulee
  
  I was just going to say the same thing – looks like CML wants to make sure he/she doesn’t spend his/her LAST $10 on drugs.
  
  Jul 31, 2013 at 4:17 pm rating: 4
- #14.2 Poltergeist
  
  Crystal Meth Loser
  
  Aug 1, 2013 at 8:10 pm rating: 5
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#15 Suzanne Lucas

If I were Grandma, I’d ask for evidence of what she used the dollars for. Because I’m bitchy like that.

Aug 1, 2013 at 12:53 pm rating: 3

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#16 Rainlight

The first one reminds me about when my mom got her first tattoo (at the young age of 40, I might add). She used the birthday money ($40) that my nana sent her “to buy something nice for herself”. I think Nana meant something like a sweater.

After that, Nana never sent that much birthday money again.

Since then, both parents, my sister, and I all have at least one tattoo.

Aug 1, 2013 at 2:06 pm rating: 4

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- #16.1 Lil'
  
  This first time tattoo story made me think of a call-in I heard on the radio a few months ago. This lady got drunk with a friend of hers and agreed to let the friend give her her first tattoo. She spent the next morning trying to explain to her husband Tom why she had “I Love Steve” across her shoulder.
  
  Aug 1, 2013 at 2:30 pm rating: 2
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#17 Rainlight

I can say that none of us were drunk at the time of our tattoos. In fact none of the tattoo shops I’ve been in will tattoo someone who is drunk. And for all of my tattoos, I had to book an appointment weeks in advance.

When ever anyone asks me for advice about getting one I always suggest deciding on what you want to have and being certain of it. I’ve heard getting rid of a mistake tattoo hurts worse then getting it in the first place. Drunken tattoo getting just seems like asking for trouble.

Aug 1, 2013 at 3:03 pm rating: 3

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- #17.1 Rainlight
  
  Crap! This was meant to be a reply to Lil’.
  
  Aug 1, 2013 at 3:05 pm rating: 1
- #17.2 Lil'
  
  Oh, I hear removing them is a B. I haven’t been brave enough to get one yet. I’m afraid of outgrowing whatever I choose and being stuck with it. My 50 year old aunt went through a Scooby Doo phase about 15 years ago (She had 5 kids and watched with them). She enjoys a good drink, and ended up with Scooby Doo on her ankle. The artist may have done something wrong because it turned from brown to bright purple a short time later. She hasn’t removed it though. She’s just made it a conversation piece – the purple Scooby. She’s a good sport about it, even when she’s sober.
  
  Aug 1, 2013 at 3:35 pm rating: 3
- #17.3 Rainlight
  
  Yikes. It does sound like maybe the artist messed something up if the colour changed that much.
  
  I knew what I wanted for my first tat for about 5 years before I got it. I had made my choice when my sister got hers, but my parents made me wait until I was legally old enough to get it. It was my 18th birthday present to myself. Litterally. I got it done on my birthday. For each of the others, I also waited several weeks between choosing what I wanted and getting it done. I don’t regret any of them that way.
  
  I still want to get at least one more, but I just haven’t found the time to look for a design and book the appointment.
  
  Aug 1, 2013 at 4:04 pm rating: 2
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#18 toots

Labor Day is in September.

Aug 1, 2013 at 4:28 pm rating: 0

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