"He's doing really well," I tell her.
"I haven't passed out yet." He turns his head so he can grin at Maya, who grins back.
"Usually if someone's going to pass out," she says, "it's going to be a guy."
"It's true," I add. "Women have a higher pain tolerance."
I can practically hear the client shrug. Men don't tend to think they can't handle pain like women can, but in my experience, they can't. I've had women feel faint while they were being tattooed, and I've had to stop so they could recover, but in all the years I've been doing this, and I started my apprenticeship the summer I was twenty, I've only had one woman faint, and it turned out that she was so nervous about being tattooed that she hadn't eaten all day.
( But I can count the men who've passed out in my chair on two hands. )
words: 1982
total words: 25,077
"I haven't passed out yet." He turns his head so he can grin at Maya, who grins back.
"Usually if someone's going to pass out," she says, "it's going to be a guy."
"It's true," I add. "Women have a higher pain tolerance."
I can practically hear the client shrug. Men don't tend to think they can't handle pain like women can, but in my experience, they can't. I've had women feel faint while they were being tattooed, and I've had to stop so they could recover, but in all the years I've been doing this, and I started my apprenticeship the summer I was twenty, I've only had one woman faint, and it turned out that she was so nervous about being tattooed that she hadn't eaten all day.
( But I can count the men who've passed out in my chair on two hands. )
words: 1982
total words: 25,077