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lame it on a whim.
Without thinking, I whipped my car
into the slot. We were parked in front of
the 40 Watt Club, that hot spot of the
Athens music scene. A few feet from the hood of
my car, a neon sign blinked—Tattoos. Startled,
my 80-something mother asked, “Why are we
stopping here?*
She hadn't seen the sign until I said, "Stand
right here and smile." As I started snapping
digital photos, Mother got into the act. Within
60 seconds, we were causing a spectacle in front
of the Pain & Wonder Tattoo, where you can also
get your body pierced. A panhandler offered to
take our pictures, if I'd
hand him my camera. I
figured I'd rather keep
my mini-Sony, so I
slipped him five bucks
to take his loitering
elsewhere.
That's when the
tattoo artists came out
with their camera. It's
not every day that a
well groomed great
grandmother shows up
window shopping at
Pain and Wonder. After
Chris Parry and Mike
Groves got some snap
shots, they wanted in
the picture, too. So I
got the unlikely trio
to ham it up for a few
poses. •
As we drove away,
Mother said, "They
seemed like such nice
young men."
She still hadn't caught on to the proposed
scam until I showed her the prints and laid
out the plan. "Take these photographs to your
Friday lunch bunch," I said, "and tell them that
I wanted to get you something special for your
birthday. After all, it's hard to keep coming up
with original gifts after 80-plus years."
She liked the idea and, in between chuckles,
started crafting her ruse.
The next stop was Junkman's Daughter's
Brother, the mother lode of curiosity shops.
Weird cards, naughty bumper stickers, life-size
cutouts of Hollywood stars and t-shirts with
slogans that would make most people blush are
a few items in the bizarre array of merchandise.
The college crowd flocks there. I went, too, for a
few benign temporary tattoos.
"Now, Mother," I said, "fo; this practical joke
to work, you need to put on one of these tat
toos." She was relieved to know a little dab of
rubbing alcohol would make her tattoo-free again.
By the time her Friday lunch date arrived, she
had enl ; sted neighbor Mary Jo Nickodem to help
her place the tatt on
her left arm where her
sleeve 1 would hide the
surprise. And when
the ladies were as
sembled for their meal,
Mother announced
she had something
to share and pulled
out the photographs.
Some gasped. All we.e
polite. But none could
believe their talkative,
but genteel friend was
really going to show
them she had a tattoo.
No way.
No, wait!
She let them gulp
down the bait and
then lifted her sleeve
to set the hook.
"Margie," they
cried, "you've got a
tattoo!"
And then she confessed, "This prank was just
too good to save until April Fool's Day."
Dink Nesmith
Dink Nesmith is President and Co-CEO of Community
Newspapers, Inc., headquartered in The Bottleworks here.
This story was originally written for TheJesup Sentinel-
Press, in Jesup, GA, where Dink's mother, Manorie
Nesmith, lives.
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