“She Wanted a Meaningful Tattoo, But What She Got Was a Hilarious Meme Mishap!”
She explained that she’d offered to work on a cover-up for the client but had not mentioned a price soon enough afterwards. And felt it got too late to bring up the cost. The artist added that she also realized her role in the blunder. “I did not have her sign a waiver ensuring that I am not responsible for stuff like this, which was my mistake,” she said.
“There’s a difference between legal responsibility and a sense of ethical responsibility”: expert weighs in
Image credits: Kaizen Nguyễn (not the actual photo)
Anna Mathur is a psychotherapist and author. She kindly agreed to give us her take on the situation. We explained that the artist is dealing with feelings of guilt, and feels that they’re at fault. Bored Panda asked Mathur what advice she has for the artist.
“The tattooist is fairly new to the job and these learnings often come about through making mistakes or hearing stories where others have made certain mistakes. If a design is approved by the client, then it’s truly the client’s responsibility to ensure they’re confident with what they’re asking for,” said the expert.
Mathur added that the tattooist should ask themselves whether they’ve done anything wrong when it comes to best practice. “There’s a difference between legal responsibility and a sense of ethical responsibility. The artist may agree to go half and half because she feels a sense of responsibility.”
“It truly is a grey area,” said Mathur. “Which is why it sparked such response. Everyone is viewing the scenario through their own lenses of understanding and morals. The ‘right thing’ to do is to act in a way that honours your values, and respects the other person, rather than acting on something because you feel you ’should’.”
