What does your tattoo say?

I am not inquiring about the old fading dancing girl on the fore arm tats. When I am saying tattoos I am referring to the actions that you have done in your everyday life that is recognized and seen by others. These are that things that linger around you everywhere you go. In today’s world of technology it is hard to out run and hide from these tattoos.

I had the privilege of sitting thru an online webinar last year. The presenter was a Captain from a Southern California department. At this event he brought up the analogy of tattoos and you. He talked about how everything that we do in the publics eyes can and may follow us around.

Take for instance the firefighters from Georgia. They responded to a 911 call of smoke. I am not going to get into great detail about this; this is not directly about that event. What this blog is about is those FF’s tattoos that they now have and will follow them around. In the future when they go to apply for a job somewhere and the potential employer does a simple Google search and finds out your tattoos, then what? Another example, though not fire service related, Captain Sully. Everyone should be familiar with this name. He is the captain that safely landed the airplane on the Hudson. He spent thousands of hours training and preparing. He shares his experiences and knowledge with younger pilots. He has great tattoos! If these two came in to apply for a job with your business, which would you hire?

This theory applies to everything that we do out there, no matter if it is service related or personal. These “life” tattoos are hard to cover up. There is no laser surgery out there to remove these tats. This applies to all ages also. There are no age requirements on good and bad actions. When we are young we tend not to think of long term consequences. When we are older we sometimes don’t care about the consequences. There are no excuses that can change this; we are the only one accountable for how we act in situations.

So what do your tattoos say? Are you a young inspiring firefighter that when looked at your past tattoos everyone sees that you were more concerned about badges and where to buy a pretty light? Or, were you a young FF that was trying to become a Well Trained Firefighter. Are you an older firefighter that just doesn’t care? Or, are you a seasoned firefighter that can be a positive role model for the next generations of firefighters? A tattoo is all about perception, what do others see when they are looking at your tattoos?

Be safe and learn something new today.