While out in Spain a few weeks back I fell into conversation with a couple of a certain age at the pool.

Before they spoke I was almost certain they were from Manchester, due to both wearing bee tattoos.

The bee is a historic symbol of Manchester.

When a moronic Islamic terrorist attacked the Manchester Arena in May, at the end of an Ariana Grande concert, killing 23 people, injuring 250, many people opted to get bee tattoos to raise money for the victims, and now 10,000 have had a bee tattoo inked onto themselves.

They told me they’d never thought of themselves as tattoo people, being of an age where tattoos were the exclusive preserve of sailors or convicts. But they said that the bombing in their home town changed their mindset, that it was a symbol of defiance, in their eyes, to anyone who would attempt to destroy the spirit of their home city.

As it happens, the Twelve Event includes a queen bee tattoo for L$12 right now (until the end of the month).

Further investigation revealed that there’s a number of bee tattoos on the Marketplace, and our model picked the one shown below up for L$15.

While they’re not for me, it demonstrates that a tattoo can have real meaning, not just something put on after a drunken night on holiday. My conversation with a couple in their 70s, sporting relatively fresh ink, shows that you’re never too old to get a tattoo if some event moves you enough to wear a symbol of defiance. While I remain of the opinion that it’s a fashion trend that will inevitably change, people have different reasons for getting inked, and what they choose to do with their own bodies is a matter for themselves.

Ella.