Understand people's mindsets

Photo: Zealand's ''Maori'' tribe Face tattoo, so called ''taa- moko''.

There's a great cultural divide between the baby boomers Generation and the Millennials. And the misunderstandings go both ways.

The most obvious difference lies nowadays in the way both groups handle technology. If you were born on the other side of the 1970s, technology presents a bit of a challenge at best, and at the worst it would be described as M.C. Hammer's song ''You can't touch that''.

The reasons for it are simple, but hidden in both groups' mindsets: the the Millennials were raised with technology, and they learned that every technological mishap is fixable, just a matter of re-doing or re-booting. But those further down the chronological line were raised differently: things were not to be broken, so you didn't mess with what you didn't understand how to restore back to original condition. And that mindset is still alive and well in people from those generation. So the problem lies not in the intellectual abilities of either group, but in their perception how to handle those things.

Take it one more generation further back, and you'll get the most proper people of the last century, I mean 2-inch heals, and below knee skirts for the Ladies, and proper slacks and shined shoes for men.

I know a person who's working part time as a waitress while she is putting herself through education to have a good future. Born after the Y2K, she is a ''free spirit'' with tattoos on her arms and neck. Many of the diners at her job, are couples who've seen WWII, and the consecutive wars thereafter. Brave people, noble people, but very proper people, too.

They often comment on her tattoos in not-so-favorable way. Which not onlt makes her want to respond in the same way, but that would cancel out any ($ tips) she had coming from serving them.

So what is she to do? The solution is simple:

Understand their mindset, then respond in a (polite) way.

In the olden days tattoos were used by people with a lot of time on their hands, mainly sailors or prisoners. Today tattoos are fashion statements or expressions of someone’s personality, and therefore are widely accepted as the norm.

Knowing that, you can choose one of the answers below, keeping in mind that facial expressions are just as important as words, I’d suggest a big smile, or a wink is appropriate to go along your ‘’diplomatic’’ answer:

- they were going to tattoo my entire body, but I told them to stop right there

- if you like art, then you should see the Mona Lisa tattoo I have!

- I was kidnapped by some sailors, and they did this to me! Can you believe it?

- I was born with it

- I did it myself, it was pretty easy. Looks great, wouldn’t you agree?

- this is just the beginning, they’re doing my legs in February, back in May, and torso in July. I haven’t yet decided which part to do in September.

People may not like or agree with the way you live your life, the way you handle your problem, or the way you choose to express your personal preferences through tattoos. That doesn;t mean you should change who you are, agree with those people, and deny yourself just to please their opinions. What you must do, however, is to keep your cool, control your reactions or your reactions will sent you to a downspiral. You cannot control other people's virew, opinions, or the way they choose to address you, but you can control how you respond to them. And after deciphering their mindsets, you can choose to be polite, and adding some non-invasive humor to it, can turn their frowns into smiles.