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Hey,
I almost got my tounge pierced during my undergrad, but it would make flutter toungings impossible (D'oh!) so I decided not to do it. I got my nipples done instead! I did meet a guy at Georgia State who had his lip done (corner of the mouth) and I'm not sure if it effected his playing. i would say don't do it, but hey I'm getting old and maybe I'm not "with it" anymore.
Have fun,
Bill Pritchard
Tattoos are more fun and more permanent anyhow!

Why would you do that? The tuba is so much more important than a particular "look" or function. You have to weigh the importance of playing the tuba VS having a piece of metal stuck through your tongue muscles and nerves so you can impress others in some way.

Be you. Be a tuba player. Don't do it.

DEAR ABBY: I am a certified operating-room nurse. Our surgeons have recently seen patients in their teens and 20s needing open heart surgery to replace a diseased valve.

Please warn your readers that tongue studs can lead to endocarditis, requiring surgery to replace damaged heart valves, as well as other health problems. Not only do these otherwise healthy young people have to endure this major surgery, but they also face having to take blood thinners for the rest of their lives or having their prosthetic valve replaced every 15 to 20 years.

We will see this documented in medical journals in a few years as the incidence rises, but we can save lives and prevent illness NOW by urging people to remove their tongue jewelry and let their tongues heal. The hole in the tongue provides a pathway for natural organisms in the mouth to find their way to the heart and the rest of the body with devastating results. Wearing tongue jewelry can endanger their health, their future, their very lives. -- KAREN MURPHY, R.N., MORTON PLANT HOSPITAL, FLA.

DEAR KAREN: Your letter raised eyebrows in my office, including my own, so I called the American Heart Association (news - web sites) for more information. They referred me to Gerald Pohost, M.D., at the University of Southern California, who kindly shared the following with me: He agrees that for certain individuals, people with a medical history of rheumatic fever or rheumatic valve disease -- or ANY heart valve disease -- tongue jewelry could, indeed, be dangerous.

I hope my readers will pay attention to these two concerned health-care professionals. At the risk of sounding like an alarmist, it's better to be safe than sorry.

There are those who get tattoo's as a symbol that means something to them. Then there are those who get a tweety bird or a stick figure with a lawn mower (figure it out).

I never got the whole piercing thing. Based on the fact that you need to put a hole in some body part and add metal to it does not add up for me.

I thought a long time about what symbols I would get for tattoos and where I would place them. They are not seen while wearing normal attire. Also, they are something I could easily explain to my grandchildren what they are and what they mean. I doubt very few people think 40 years ahead when getting this stuff done.

I got an idea about the tongue peircing. Just get your tongue split. You'll be just as cool if not cooler and could possibly do some really interesting tounging. You could even do those cool tricks that I see the douchebags who have that done do.

Oh and by the way, the "advantage" behind having your tounge pierced is not true. Believe me. If anything it is pshycological much more than physical. Again, believe me.

Save to 35-50 bucks and buy a few CD's.

I just wanted to note how personally some people are taking this post... And I am wondering why. You seem truly offended, some of you using profanity on top of it.

I think the poster knows that it will interfere with his playing--logic tells you so. He just posted here to see the myriad of ways in which the "old guys" will get ticked off by it. I was kinda curious to see that too. I guess it was that "welcome to the 21st century" comment.

I say, do what you want to do bud. You know it will make playing different, and most likely harder. You can always take it out if you hate it right?

Joe Baker wrote:...
I have, at times, been in a situation to make hiring decisions. I would take some considerable pleasure at turning down such an individual who was looking for employment, and telling them plainly that their piercing or obnoxious tattoo (or blue hair -- whatever) was the reason. I figure if they want me to not like them, I wouldn't want to disappoint.

I advise my teenage kids that adults are the people who will control their destiny, and that enlightened self interest demands they behave in a way that is respectful to teachers, employers, and parents of people they might wish to date and/or marry. They're smart enough all on their own to avoid becoming romantically involved with anyone so foolish as to poke holes in their bodies, or to get permanent pictures drawn on their skin.

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Joe Baker, who wonders how people in their late teens and twenties can fail to see how stupid this is.

As a manager I have hired (and fired) many people over the last 25+ years. There are laws that prevent me from using race, age, sex, or disability as the basis for any of these decisions, but nothing that prevents me from not hiring someone because of their tatoos or piercings, and have done so. In music or other arts these things might not be a liability, other than the impact on ones ability to perform, but in most of the business world they will clearly limit one's opportunities.

I strongly support ones right to express themselves this way, but they need to realize the implications of whatever decision they make. In this case, I have to think that piercing one's toungue would have to impact playing at some level. I wouldn't take the risk.

Gotcha.

I guess I dont get it. I am only 26, and beyond a desire to look presentable to society and remain hygienic, I don't give a crap about "style" or rebelling. I even shave my head every 2-3 weeks so I dont have to think about doing something with my hair, or even pay for a haircut.

I suppose the rebellion is going against direct orders. If a kid asks his/her parent(s)--"Can I pierce this, or get a tattoo..." and they say "NO!" then doing so is an act of "rebellion." Rebellion against what? I thought rebellion was supposed to have a point or some kind of grand goal.

OK, wait a sec, perhaps I simply shouldnt think this much about it. "Old guys" out there, try not to get offended by this post. He meant to incite flames, so dont feed it. Anyone with even moderate knowledge of brass playing will know that a tounge stud will have an adverse effect on playing.

If he decides to do it, fine. There are a ton of good tuba players out there, we dont need really need him. Just dont get so offended. He can only hurt himself--not you.

Sorry my thoughts are kind of random... too much caffeine, and I am running late...

I got a tattoo when I turned 18. I have been planning to get one since I saw a tattoo for the first time. Admittedly, at first it was just because I thought they were cool. So I got older and realized that it might not be a good idea. Before I turned 18, I met a man with alot of tattoos who was about middle aged(35-45). He had a great job doing something that made him alot of money on Wall Street and none of the tattoos showed when he was wearing his suit. He had a story for each of his tattoos, a memory, a lost love/familymember/pet, all had great meaning to him. He said he planned to keep adding to his collection on his body as long as he lived, it was his picture album to him, his home movies. That totally changed my view on tattoos and I went ahead and got one 2 weeks after I turned 18. It symbolizes to me that I was 18 and could make my own decisions, that I started to have to learn to grow up and live with consequences. I still only have that one tattoo but I plan on getting a mural(sleeve) on my right arm with everything that means anything to me included in it very soon. It'll be able to be covered with long sleeves and I really will tell grandkids about everything on it.
As far as some of the views expressed previously, I don't agree with not hiring people because of tattoos. If there was a worker that worked hard and did a better job and had tattoos and then someone without tattoos that did crappy, it had absolutely no influence whether they had the skin art or not. I have been known to everyone in my music department as the nicest guy they've met and the hardest working, focused and not willing to be anything but the best I can be. At any job I'd be a good asset, but because I have tattoos, some employers will be missing out.

Wes Krygsman wrote:I got a tattoo when I turned 18. I have been planning to get one since I saw a tattoo for the first time. Admittedly, at first it was just because I thought they were cool. So I got older and realized that it might not be a good idea. Before I turned 18, I met a man with alot of tattoos who was about middle aged(35-45). He had a great job doing something that made him alot of money on Wall Street and none of the tattoos showed when he was wearing his suit. He had a story for each of his tattoos, a memory, a lost love/familymember/pet, all had great meaning to him. He said he planned to keep adding to his collection on his body as long as he lived, it was his picture album to him, his home movies. That totally changed my view on tattoos and I went ahead and got one 2 weeks after I turned 18. It symbolizes to me that I was 18 and could make my own decisions, that I started to have to learn to grow up and live with consequences. I still only have that one tattoo but I plan on getting a mural(sleeve) on my right arm with everything that means anything to me included in it very soon. It'll be able to be covered with long sleeves and I really will tell grandkids about everything on it.
As far as some of the views expressed previously, I don't agree with not hiring people because of tattoos. If there was a worker that worked hard and did a better job and had tattoos and then someone without tattoos that did crappy, it had absolutely no influence whether they had the skin art or not. I have been known to everyone in my music department as the nicest guy they've met and the hardest working, focused and not willing to be anything but the best I can be. At any job I'd be a good asset, but because I have tattoos, some employers will be missing out.

Wes, as long as I never SAW or HEARD about your tattoo, it would not have any bearing on your working for me. But the decision to reveal would reveal bad judgment. Maybe if you were NEVER, EVER going to deal with my customers I wouldn't care. But I promise you I would NEVER allow someone working for me to allow a tattoo to be seen by a customer -- in any business I'd want to be in, anyway (I'll never own a bar or a motorcycle shop).

It's all freedom baby; you're free to get the ugly thing, but I'm free to decide that getting it shows bad judgment.
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I had typed a lengthy post to Dean's earlier message, but the internet demons ate it. In short, it said this: I am outspoken about this NOT because I dislike young people, but because I care enough about them to hurt physically when they make bad choices that I know are going to negatively affect them for a very, very long time. Younger readers on this forum are trying to make sense of these things; I urge them not to do make the mistake of rebelling against the social order. It is a ladder that, if not damaged too badly, can carry you to the top. But you must make the right decisions: study, learn and practice good manners, show respect (not disdain) for authority, and present an appearance that does not offend others, and the "establishment" will welcome you. Spit in its eye, and it will not.

There's a reason you see 50-year-old guys with tats and pony-tails working behind the counter at the gas station, you know?
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Joe Baker, who understands that rebellion against society results mostly from young people thinking it will never give them a chance.

Miah wrote:Tattoos do not = lazy, bad, biker, or any of those type things.

I agree. But in business, I will not expend time and energy hoping I can educate my customers so that they will accept this fact. They will often be alienated. Why would I hire someone who will alienate many of my customers?

Please go back and re-read. I've NEVER said that it is lazy or bad people that do these things. I've only said that business and society will not embrace them, and that makes it a foolish decision for one who wishes to be welcomed into business or society.
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Joe Baker, who has made his case, and awaits an explanation of how one's life is uniquely improved by piercings and tattoos.

Joe Baker wrote:It's all freedom baby; you're free to get the ugly thing, but I'm free to decide that getting it shows bad judgment.

Honestly, Joe, this shows that you're also free to be narrow-minded and pass judgement.

I've read all of your posts thoroughly and I have to say that your opinions could do a dis-service to you.

Story:

As I typed earlier, no one who works with me would know I have any tattoo's. I have them "strategically" located so that no one can see them in clear view. These people form their opinions of me and my work without knowing about my "ink". Now, if they begin to become more than co-workers and become "friends" and we begin to hang out, should that prohibit me from not wearing a tank top or similar piece of clothing in the summer during outside activities? No. Should that person's opinion of me now change due to this revelation? I hope not. If it does, than I have the freedom to dispense of that relationship quickly due to their opinion.

I have known many people. I have gotten to know them through a professional environment and then become a personal friend. They have told me many things about themselves that you or anyone else might think is a bad decision. Things like "ink", piercings, abortion, sexual orientation, drug abuse, etc. That does not change my opinion of them at all. In some cases, I regard them in a higher manner for getting as far as they have by overcoming obsticles such as drug abuse. For me to change my mind on them at that point is a very unkind thing to do. So if it doesn't change my opinion of them later, why hould it change it sooner?

I reserve the right to pass judgement to only one Person. He has the final say. I find myself daily reminding myself of that, but have become a better person because of it. I think.

The tongue piercing is still a little risky for someone trying to play the tuba. IMO, piercing are a little silly when they get extreme. Nonetheless, the person is no lesser for it, just different. It is ultimately their decision not yours or mine. Again, only one Person has the right to decide on how "bad" it is if it isn't in violation of the laws of the land.

Matthew, if we use your logic, I believe we have to take the next step, too. You keep saying that only one person has the right to pass judgement. I believe I have the right to have whatever thoughts I choose to have. I have the right to be a bigot. I have the right to choose friends based on whatever criteria I wish. I continue this manner of thinking to cover a myriad of situations. That being said, I hope that I am not a bigot. I hope I choose my friends based on a reasonable set of criteria. On and on I could go.

Basically, I am saying that I have the right to decide what I want to decide and how I decide it. You are not free to dictate this to me. On the other hand, you may choose to think what you wish to think of me. This is your freedom. All being said, you cannot tell me I don't have the right to pass judgement. You can only tell me that you don't agree with my passing judgement.

By the way, in my opinion, you can have whatever tattoes, piercings, etc., that you wish. That's your choice and your right. I will, however, exercise my right to think what I wish about it.

Matthew Gilchrest wrote:

Joe Baker wrote:It's all freedom baby; you're free to get the ugly thing, but I'm free to decide that getting it shows bad judgment.

Honestly, Joe, this shows that you're also free to be narrow-minded and pass judgement.
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I reserve the right to pass judgement to only one Person. He has the final say.

So if someone you THOUGHT was a friend invited you to join them at the KKK rally, you'd not pass judgment? If he beat the hell out of his wife, again no judgment? I don't understand that.

But that has nothing to do with what I have said. What I've said is that society doesn't welcome tats & piercing. Maybe someday, but not now. I'd stand in the face of society when it is "wrong" (like racial bigotry, for example). But when its decisions are no worse than arbitrary, and people overtly act out against it, that is by definition antisocial behavior. That doesn't mean I think the person is scum, or that I hate them. It just means I think they've made a really bad choice. Shoot, I've had many friends with tattoos (piercings -- not so much). But I wouldn't hire them to interact with my customers. That's not MY judgment, it is my awareness of society's judgment. It is what it is. You want to incur society's wrath to make a point, go right ahead; I'd rather fight battles that mean something. And I'll encourage young people not to waste their time on this fight, too, because it's foolish.

In the interest of complete truth, I do have to admit to this, though: like everyone else, I make judgments about people based on their appearance. That's just common sense; when you see the clothing, hairstyle, makeup -- whatever a person uses to make themselves look the way they do, you know they made conscious choices. Those choices tell you something about the character and the priorities of the person. My first instinct when I see a young person with a tattoo or a piercing is "this guy doesn't mind offending people." That brings them down a notch in my estimation. There are plenty of other positives that may well overcome that one -- and very often do -- but make no mistake, I DO perceive that negatively. So do most people over the age of about 30, to greater degrees with older people. And its also true that the older the tattooed person is, the more likely they are to now regret the tattoo, which tells me they've learned. That immediately negates the tattoo in my mind; but alas it doesn't remove it from their bodies.

I should also say that there are definitely degrees in this whole issue. The fact that you had the foresight to put yours where they can be hidden says you were thinking more clearly than the idiots that get them on their forearms or necks.

Anyhow, to imply that I only like people who agree with me on everything -- sorry, that won't fly. I can name people I love dearly who have made every one of the mistakes you named. I'd never judge a person based upon what they've done in the past, assuming they've seen the error of their ways, repented, and when called for made the best restitution they can. In the case of a tattoo, though, it just keeps offending -- even when the wearer no longer wishes to offend.
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Joe Baker, who is speaking tough truths, but hates no one.

Let's keep this friendly people. He asked an honest question and was looking for an honest answer. This topic has come up before and never turned into a hatefest like the one I just spent 15 minutes cleaning up.

I do not need holier than thou prima donnas coming in here and doing nothing more than belittling this person.

How bout asking your girlfriend to get hers done instead