In yesterday’s post, I mentioned my coworker, M. Let’s just go ahead and call her Missy, since that is her name and the whole single-initial thing is getting old.
Missy was chatting this afternoon with Shannon and me. Shannon had been out of the office yesterday, and since Missy will gladly talk all about her new boyfriend with anyone willing to listen, she was doing just that. (Us old people have to live vicariously through the adventures of the younger and more adventurous people.) Some of Missy’s stories and laughs were repeats of things I had heard yesterday, but I didn’t mind. She’s very happy. You might even say she’s giddy and she’s quite amusing when she constantly describes her new boyfriend as being “yummy.”
Missy decided to tell Shannon how she had taken my picture yesterday so that she could send it to Mr. Yummy and he could put a face with the person Missy says is taking her to the “toy” store. (I repeat that there are no real plans for any such adventure but Missy is going to keep reminding me until she thinks she can make this happen.) While telling Shannon about yesterday’s little photographic escapade, Missy turned to me and said, “Oh, by the way? He says you look way too innocent to be someone who would go to the ‘toy’ store.”
“I do not look innocent,” I laughed.
Shannon chimed in, “Yes, you do. You look totally sweet and innocent. If you hadn’t told me that story, I would never have thought you would go to the ‘toy’ store.”
“Yeah. I know people who are naughty, little whores, but you are definitely sweet and innocent,” Missy said.
Somehow these didn’t feel like compliments. I mean, I definitely don’t want anyone looking at me and thinking, “Mmm-hmmm. Naughty little whore.”
But “sweet and innocent?” Really?
Maybe I need to give more serious consideration to the idea of getting a tattoo…You know, something that says, “Just a little bit of a bad girl. Not a naughty, little whore but not completely naive either, thank you very much.”
But tattoos hurt and I’m opposed to pain. (Hmmm…I think I’m beginning to see the problem here.)
Maybe another piercing.
Or just a really little tattoo.
Just enough to shake that “sweet and innocent” label.
What do you think?
Update: Due to a few concerned comments on this post, I have to admit I’m NOT really in the market for a tattoo. I’M JOKING, PEOPLE! I can’t even have my blood drawn or get a shot without freaking out a little bit, for crying out loud. 
I’m sticking with the ”sweet and innocent” label!
territerri
34 Comments
July 14, 2009 at 8:46 pm
I prefer sweet and innocent. There sure isn’t enough of it these days.
July 14, 2009 at 9:33 pm
Tramp stamp! Tramp stamp! Tramp stamp!
Nah, I would go with the “innocent but potentially naughty” description of you. I have three “toy” stores within walking distance of my house (near Wrigley Field) so I wouldn’t think anything of stopping in with or without my girlfriend. It’s no biggee. Pardon the pun!
July 14, 2009 at 9:58 pm
I agree with Hammer.
July 14, 2009 at 10:12 pm
Nah -don’t bother with the tattoo. No one needs any type of “labeling” on them to indicate sweet and/or innocent or not. I’m biased though because I am totally against pain, but most particularly, self-induced pain. That, plus I just don’t like tattoos or piercings of any kind to begin with. I know, I’m just old-fashioned I guess.
July 14, 2009 at 10:18 pm
I have a little tat on my shoulder, about the size of a silver dollar. It makes me happy, but it’s small enough to cover if the occasion warrants. If you do decide to get some ink, be completely sure of the design, you can’t change you mind after it’s done.
July 14, 2009 at 11:02 pm
Who cares what others think? Are you happy with who you are? Is a tat really gonna change who you are? If you want one, get one… but don’t do it because of someone else.
July 15, 2009 at 2:48 am
But you do look sweet and innocent. I am always shocked that you even know that “toy” stores actually exist!
Stay away from the Tramp Stamp tatoo, though. Not you at all! Maybe a secret one on a butt cheek would be better?
July 15, 2009 at 4:41 am
It was my lack of comprehension about you being “married to the sound of a distant thunderstorm” that sealed the image, wasn’t it?
July 15, 2009 at 10:26 am
Well it didn’t do anything to dispell the image did it?
July 15, 2009 at 5:06 am
Stick with sweet & innocent. You can always throw on the leather jacket and jump on the Harley for a night of wild bowling.
Tats are ok for some people. If you do go for a tat, make sure it is something you won’t regret in 20 years. Remember that age (and gravity) have a way of moving things…
Besides, would you let Kacey get one?
July 15, 2009 at 6:04 am
yeah, please don’t get a tattoo on your lower back. Anywhere else! For me, I got mine when I had reached a 60 pound weight loss. Now that I’m at 100, I’m ready for another one. But I’m a naughty girl like that.
July 15, 2009 at 6:09 am
The first salvo of a mid life crisis. Be naughty I say. get a small discrete tattoo.
July 15, 2009 at 7:35 am
Billy Joel – The New Released “Stranger” Collection- Disc 1 – Track 3
July 15, 2009 at 7:50 am
Please, no tramp stamp. Get something that means something to you, that you won’t say in 10 years, WTF was I thinking?
I have been into martial arts for a long time so I have two sets of characters on my arms, but they mean something to me. and no, they don’t say Eat At Joes
Tats are personal and should be done for you because you want one, not because it’ll change how people view you. And be careful, tats are like potato chips. You really can’t just have one.
I’m going in for my 3rd in a few months when I save up enough. Thinking of getting a really big one this time, like cover my shoulder big 
July 15, 2009 at 8:49 am
I was 30 when I got my first tattoo (a celtic symbol on my ankl) and my mom was aghast for a week! Still today 8 years later peole still tell me I don’t seem like a “tattoo” type but I LOVE it!
I ended up getting a 2nd one on my back where my kidney used to be (I had a whilm’s tumor as a child and had my kidney removed). I got th japanese symbols for “survivor” interwoven with some flowers/leaves. I never see it since it is on my back but it is a reminder to me of how strong I have been in my life.
I say go for it – get a small one that you can cover if needed – I used to worry about covering mine but now – it’s just part of me.
July 15, 2009 at 8:57 am
Tats are cool on women if they follow some simple rules.
1. Small – like no bigger than 2″ x 2″
2. Hidden from view in a bikini
3. And if you want to be a little bad, no butterflies or shapes, do a little red devil or something like that.
July 15, 2009 at 10:17 am
Terri you sound like me… a bad ass in my own mind.
July 15, 2009 at 10:17 am
You don’t need a tramp stamp. You look just great like you are.
July 15, 2009 at 10:51 am
Go for the barbed wire around the upper arm!
I could see you at a “toy” store. I mean, geesh, you were at work when the pic was taken. And you do have a banana in your hand… or were you just happy to be there?
July 15, 2009 at 10:53 am
sweet and innocent works for you! And that just gave me more material for your ‘title’ [he he he]
July 15, 2009 at 12:29 pm
Personally, I’ve found that the sweet innocent girls are usually not that at all. What’s on the outside is not usually what’s on the inside. I’m sure your wild side comes out when you feel the need…
July 15, 2009 at 1:27 pm
I’m not a tattoo person either. I can’t handle needles or pain. I know plenty of people with tattoos, but the funniest is my Dad with my Mom’s name tattooed on his arm. It has a heart on it. Too bad he’s married to someone else now.
July 15, 2009 at 2:11 pm
funny you mention tattoos… ive been considering getting a 2nd one alot lately..
i just realized ive never shown my tattoo on my site.. i’ll try to do that next week.
July 15, 2009 at 6:21 pm
I was glad to hear you were kidding.
And what the hell is up with the guy above me? LOL.
July 16, 2009 at 7:17 am
He couldn’t be nice so I sent his comment to spam!
July 15, 2009 at 6:28 pm
I have this vision of a spaceship like the Enterprise beaming to this planet and ending in a cubicle. They accidently brush against a laptop and it comes on to Terri Terri (well, the whole planet reads this stuff).
“Report from planet, please”, says ship.
And the reply says:
“This planet has blonds in blue jeans, bowling balls, bananas, butterflies, and blogs; should I return to ship?”
Answer: “Absolutely not! We’re beaming down”.
Reply from first to land here:
“Life is Good!”
Billy Joel sings “We love you just the way you are”.
Listen to Billy:
Don’t go changing, to try and please me
You never let me down before
Don’t imagine you’re too familiar
And I don’t see you anymore
I wouldn’t leave you in times of trouble
We never could have come this far
I took the good times, I’ll take the bad times
I’ll take you just the way you are
Don’t go trying some new fashion
Don’t change the color of your hair
You always have my unspoken passion
Although I might not seem to care
I don’t want clever conversation
I never want to work that hard
I just want someone that I can talk to
I want you just the way you are.
I need to know that you will always be
The same old someone that I knew
What will it take till you believe in me
The way that I believe in you.
I said I love you and that’s forever
And this I promise from the heart
I could not love you any better
I love you just the way you are.
~~~Billy Joel
Keystone agrees.
July 15, 2009 at 7:25 pm
i am thinking about getting a tattoo but I’m a wiener
July 15, 2009 at 7:39 pm
I say, go out and buy a supply of tattoos you can apply yourself according to your mood
That way, when you’re feeling “sassy,” you can choose accordingly, and pain-free.
July 15, 2009 at 9:15 pm
Hmmmmmm…
maybe a small Tat that says “Wisconsin”.
July 16, 2009 at 4:09 am
Oh c’mon Terri. Live a little! It doesn’t hurt that much. (nor do I hold to some ridiculous notion about femininity that says that a girl should only have a 2×2″ tattoo…but I’ll save that for my blog and not yours)
July 16, 2009 at 7:40 am
Not the tramp stamp! lol And not a blasted butterfly!
If you do get one, get one that only Mark can enjoy
I too want to break out of that “sweet and innocent” label sometimes. And the first thing I think is a tattoo. Followed by thoughts of geriatric, sagging skin, and how funny a tat would look on that one day. And thoughts of hepatitis – gah!
Stay sweet Terri. We love ya just the way you are!
July 16, 2009 at 10:37 am
I am so late responding to this…all the witty responses have been worked to death
July 19, 2009 at 9:15 pm
I have never gotten a tattoo because of the pain….is that good or bad?
July 23, 2009 at 9:30 am
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