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Mom says no one will hire her because of her 800 tattoos


FILE - 2020 SLC International Tattoo Convention. (Adam Forgie, TND)
FILE - 2020 SLC International Tattoo Convention. (Adam Forgie, TND)
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As tattoos have become much more common over the past two decades, so has the public's acceptance of those who have them.

But, as one woman in Wales will attest, it's difficult to get acceptance when you have more than 800 tattoos from head to toe.

Forty-six-year-old Melissa Sloan says she's had one job in her entire life, but it didn't last long.

“I can’t get a job,” Sloan said. “I applied for a job cleaning toilets where I live, and they won’t have me because of my tattoos."

Sloan says she's ready to accept any job that will have her.

“If someone offered me a job tomorrow, I would go and work — I would take that offer.”

Sloan admits she is "addicted" to getting inked, and still gets three new tattoos a week, despite being out of real estate on her skin. She says her boyfriend gives her the tattoos to save on costs.

The mother of two first began getting tattooed at age 20 and hasn't stopped since. She has three layers of ink on her face alone.

If I make it to 70 I’ll still be getting them,” she said. “Every bit of skin will be covered even if I’m turning blue, my face is already turning blue — I look like a Smurf.”

Sloan doubts anyone else in the world has as many tattoos as she does. She wants the Guinness Book of World Records to stop by and check.

"I probably have the most tattoos in the world, and if not then at the rate I’m going on I probably will have in the end — I keep going over and over them,” she said.

It's not just finding a job that's difficult for Sloan, it's going anywhere in public, she says. She claims she's been banned from her children's school and a local bar — all because of her ink.

Some tattoo parlors won't even allow her in, citing worries about her having too much ink.


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