like people who wear shorts in the freezing cold winter, its weird you have to mention at all, the problems with that situation.  at 40, i am too young to complain and have only been tattooing for 16 years, but where have all the the tattooers gone. it was ,at one time, commonplace to mop your station and take care of all the aspects of your craft. this included promptness for appointments if you made one, drawings ready if you had to draw something, and taking care of the parlor weather you owned it or not.maybe even more if a person let you work for them. it was an honor at one time when you were a tattooer with no shop of your own to get the opportunity to work in an established shop. if someone gave you a shot, that was gold. it doesn't matter how long you been working, or how good people think you are, you will never learn everything and there is always a better way.a tattoo it is your money maker weather you own it or not...and it should reflect you as well. you should take pride in its maintenance and appearance. if you don't give the owner a month notice out of respect and move on. you should take care and pride in this craft as well. the more people who continue to put cheap shitty tattoos on people who are too ignorant to pay for proper well crafted art turn the real craft of tattoos and tattooing into a cheap  flea market and devalue  my livelihood.a wise person once told me , "if you give cheap tattoos, you will have cheap clientele.
 most real tattooers had to struggle to get where they are and in turn have more value in what they do. not all of us thought it would be a lark to tattoo like the folks on tv, and be the cool kid. when i started it was not cool to have or give tattoos in general, and when i got my first tattoo in the late 80s it was like i was from mars to society.historically, it was never this easy to be a tattooer and some of us hate to see our craft devalued buy those who cheapen it through shoddy work and cheap prices.. i never had rich folks to give me a shop because i just got a set up off ebay and could draw a skull better than those "lame" skulls that is in those old parlors , the ones with the wobbly eyes. i aint trying to put y'all down cause of your class status but you should realize that this tattooing is not a lark to some of us. best you start respecting this craft, its history and the folks who contributed to it. you think there are no secrets to the trade anymore , but buddy,  there are to some of us.

ch fellows {1900s tattoo artist} did a drawing of the mast of the uss iowa with a banner stating the name of the ship and "military surrender and Cervera" here is my research to povide a deeper insight into the meaning of this tattoo design.

 

Admiral Cervera y Topete - (1839 - 1909) 
For United States sailors in Admiral Sampson's squadron at Santiago de Cuba, facing Admiral Cervera was like fighting a legend.  The world well knew the might of the Spanish Navy, and Admiral Cervera was revered by friend and foe alike for his courage, his prowess, and his unmatched resume.

Recognizing the folly of the orders that sent his small squadron to Cuba at the outbreak of war, Admiral Cervera voiced his disapproval and then honorably fulfilled his orders.  When commanded to steam his doomed ships out of Santiago de Cuba and directly into the guns of the waiting American Naval force, again he voiced his disapproval and then obeyed his orders.

After the defeat of Admiral Cervera's squadron, he was pulled from the waters by Commander Richard Wainwright.  When transfered from the Glouchester to the USS Iowa he was greeted by the American commander Captain Evans with the words:  "Sir, you are a hero.  You have done the most sublime feat ever recorded in the history of the Navy."  Subsequently sent to the United States as a prisoner of war, he was  "held" for a brief period at the US Naval Academy.  During the period he was treated more like a celebrity V.I.P. than a prisoner.  American school children wrote letters concerning the battle, even requesting his autograph.  Returning home to Spain in September 1898, he said, "I have lost everything except my honor."

In 1901 Cervera was made a Vice Admiral, and in 1903 King Alfonso XIII named him life Senator of the Kingdom.