Mentor abuse
As common as I know hazing and abuse is in the tattoo industry especially towards apprentices isn’t unheard of. However on a day to day basis I am subjected to verbal abuse . By no means am I looking for a therapist in the chat but definitely getting a feeling this is over the top abusive. Long story short today I was called outta the bathroom mid break to come assist with whatever I was being asked to do . I hurriedly washed my hands thoroughly and dried. Went to the room that my mentor was tattooing in to assist with his request. Asked me to reach in his cabinet to pull out an extra small ink cup . I asked if I needed to put on gloves to minimize any kind of cross contamination. He looked at me like I was asking what 1+1 was . His response was “why the fuck would you need to do that ?!” I didn’t ask any further questions. Proceeded to reach into a container bare handed digging around for an extra small ink cup. After fumbling through an endless pile of assorted sized cups I finally found the one needed. Placed cup on tattoo tray he was using carefully as to not put my skin on or to not contaminate his setup. He then asked me to grab his white ink and cover with a paper towel before grabbing it and shake it really well. Which I did. He then told me to open it , hover and fill it to the top. In my experience which isn’t extensive find that white ink is a bit thicker depending on what kind being used . I’m heavily tattooed with have had plenty of time in the tattoo chair throughout my life to observe ink pouring and consistency of the inks used. Anyways I knew in my head that I CANNOT touch the bottle to the cap which I wasn’t going to do. I hovered it closely about an inch away to start the pour then would hover a bit higher to have a clear view . He then stopped tattooing his client and screamed rather loudly“DON’T YOU EVER FUCKING POUR INK LIKE THAT EVER AGAIN , you might as well fucking throw the entire bottle out “.
This is a shop that only uses matacide and has an autoclave that’s been sitting on the ground with random paint brushes and supplies since NAM. There are various other major contamination issues I won’t go into. But as a 40 year man thats going through a career change with a newborn on the way I’m growing tired of the way he speaks to me. This isn’t an isolated incident. I got fired on the way to the shop one morning through text because I had taken off for my 1 year wedding anniversary. Basically had to beg to not be let go after being berated for an hour over the phone.
I could literally go on and on about many other over the top shenanigans. I’m pretty patient with my wisdom and age but this dude is excessive. I’ve already committed 5 months of my life for free scrubbing his toilets, wiping door knobs, rearranging the gravel in the parking lot etc. and not going to give up . I also don’t want to get into an altercation. I don’t know who he thinks he talking to but it sure as shit ain’t me. That’s what the rational me says inside but I just take it and keep my mouth shut. Is it really worth sticking it out in this kind of environment?