Aryan Gleason submitted a tattoo request form via this website. We responded, even though she stated her budget for a tattoo was less than our shop minimum. We had to email her though, because she typed in her phone number wrong, but we got that cleared up and she told us she would be coming in AFTER the time she stated she wanted to get the tattoo in order to speak with someone about it. All of what you just read is pretty typical stuff, people’s timelines and budgets sometimes get amended and people frequently have typos on their request forms or in their emails. No sweat, we deal with this all the time.

However. On this fateful day we were three people short due to illness, so it was just the owner and an apprentice, both of whom had appointments scheduled for noon. They had fielded several walk-in tattoo requests, getting several tattoos booked for later that day, and had answered more than a dozen phone calls in the half hour since the shop had opened, all while preparing to start their scheduled appointments. This involves filling out paperwork, copying IDs, taking deposits when scheduling appointments for later that very day, printing artwork and making stencils, and setting up sterile workspaces. This, all in less than an hour, while understaffed due to illness. When Aryan came in, she was informed that the Fleur de lis she wanted to incorporate into her infinity symbol tattoo would need to be a bit larger for longevity’s sake and that might make the overall tattoo a bit larger. While going back and forth with the artist she was speaking to, the conversation ballooned to more than five minutes as Aryan was trying to figure out if she wanted to get the tattoo at an appropriate size or not.. Normally five minutes or so is not a lot of time to discuss a tattoo but we were already running behind and since no one was capable of doing that tattoo at that moment, Aryan would need to schedule an appointment to get the tattoo. At this point, the owner got the attention of the artist helping Aryan and gave her the universal sign for ‘move it along’ or ‘hurry up’ (you know, the pointer finger making a forward circular motion.) Shortly after, Aryan left without setting an appointment, she either needed more time to think about it; decided not to get the tattoo after all; wanted to try some other place; or couldn’t afford our $80 minimum charge for a tattoo, either of which would be perfectly fine. The two artists moved forward with their appointments, appreciative of their scheduled clients’ patience considering the staffing issues we were having.

Then? Then it goes a bit off the rails.

A few hours later we get an email notification from Google that we have just received another review. It was from Aryan, who left us a 1-star review, stating that she was treated ‘extremely’ rudely by the owner (she wasn’t, he never even spoke to her) and that she didn’t recommend coming to Lighthouse Tattoo. Here’s the review she left:

She states that the owner was rushing the conversation without mentioning the fact that the conversation was taking unnecessarily long considering the circumstances. She also mentions that she and her friend were ‘practically’ the only people in the shop. News Flash: the other two people in the shop were the two artists in the shop’s PAYING, SCHEDULED appointments! It doesn’t have to look very busy to be doing business at capacity if you have no idea what you’re talking about Aryan! So now, in HER mind, there was ‘no need for the rush’. Fine, expect everyone who is already at the shop for their appointment to wait on you to make up your mind about whether or not to get your tattoo because they’ve been waiting patiently for more than a half hour, but you just got here. You’re obviously the only person in the world, or at least the only on that matters…Fuck.

While this may appear rude to some of you, please understand that we take our client’s time seriously and we work on a schedule in order to serve the most people possible. As evidence, our owner, in addition to his scheduled appointment for the day, did two additional walk-ins, the other artist did even more than that, ultimately requiring them both to stay late, resulting in a 10-and-a-half-hour workday. Sometimes when we are busy, we have to work at a higher level of efficiency to be able to serve our clientele. We affectionately refer to this as ‘catching another gear’ or ‘downshifting’, to illustrate the need for greater efficiency. We also don’t believe it’s rude to ask someone if they would like to schedule an appointment when it seems like we may be at an impasse and time is at a premium. We sometimes refer to this as ‘shit or get off the pot’ or ‘pull the trigger.’ Ah colloquialisms

So here’s why you’re on Knucklehead of the Month Aryan: You are behaving like an entitled child. To make assumptions about someone else’s motives without even trying to understand what’s really happening and to over-inflate some sort of imagined transgression as ‘extremely rude’ when it was in fact, simply a necessary instruction from a supervisor to a subordinate, then to passive-aggressively do as much damage to their business as you possibly can by leaving a 1-star, misleading review (which is actually, NO DAMAGE, just pure comedy) is the actions of someone who has not matured emotionally. Considering your youth, it comes as no surprise, but let this be a lesson to you, your behavior is inappropriate.

Now, normally we would use a lot of swear words, but this transgression was a mild one and we want to recognize this as a teachable moment. If you find yourself getting offended, maybe try to get some clarity on the situation before jumping to conclusions or lashing out. If you don’t have the stones to say something in person, saying it online only makes you look like a coward or an attention-seeking child, or both. Treating people in service industries as if they are supposed to ignore all of their other clients for your benefit is entitlement mentality run amok and won’t be received well at Lighthouse Tattoo. If you agree with young Aryan, please don’t darken our doorstep. If you understand how her behavior is wrong and appreciate it when people do their best to serve their clients in difficult times by prioritizing effectively and efficiently without cutting corners, then Lighthouse Tattoo might be the place for you!