Ink

So Mark left me a message last night telling me about how he's forgotten to close his credit card tab at a bar over the weekend. This isn't the first time he's done it and I'd be a tiny bit disappointed if it were his last. (Come on! It's funny!) If it were me, I'd just stop opening up tabs at the bar, but Mark's not me (otherwise he'd be AWESOME). So he got me started thinking about mistakes and repeating them.

There was a weekend during my freshman year in college when my parents came to visit me. They drove all the way from Chicago to Upstate New York and were very excited to see their only daughter, who was so far away from home. Their only daughter, on the other hand, was excited to go to some big Cider party at some frat house that Saturday. I made an excuse for my parents to drop me off at my dorm earlier than they wanted, something along the lines of having to study or being sleepy, and then I went to the party. The next morning I woke up with an "X" on my hand, evidence of where I'd gone the night before. I quickly hopped into the shower and spent the next twenty minutes scrubbing the skin off my hand with a loofah and some soap. The "X" eventually came off and in it's place was the red, raw spot of new skin. No regrets, spiked cider is delicious!

Fast forward a few years later and again I wake up in the morning with ink on my skin. This time an autograph along my right arm. Why was there an autograph on my arm? Because I went to see a friend perform and I thought it'd be funny to get his autograph on my arm. Why I thought it'd be funny? Ask Fat Tire. Once again I found myself in the shower, trying to scrub the ink off before work. I'd like to say I've grown. I'd like to say I've matured and I think I have (obviously not enough), so this time I didn't rub off the first layer of my skin. Instead, I dug deep into my spring wardrobe and found a long sleeved cardigan. Over and forgotten!...Except for when I have to pull up my sleeves and I see the cursive "J" of James on my forearm.

Why do we repeat our mistakes? I don't know but let's just thank God for things like being able to cancel credit cards and my low tolerance for pain so that I'd never be able to get a tattoo and let's not forget, washable ink (I hope!).