Two tatoos for the price of being dumb

CHAPARRAL, N.M. – Getting a tattoo can be a painful proposition, but usually it’s just the needle you have to worry about. Two men trying to trace a loaded .357-caliber Magnum as a pattern for a tattoo accidentally shot themselves, the Otero County Sheriff’s Department said Monday.

Robert Glasser and Joey Acosta, both 22, were treated at a hospital in El Paso, Texas, after the shooting Thursday evening in nearby Chaparral.

Authorities said Glasser was struck in the hand when the gun accidentally went off, and Acosta was hit in the left arm. Their injuries were not life-threatening, authorities said.

However, they have made New Year’s revolutions not to trace loaded objects in the future. The bright side is that the “tattoos” of the bullet wounds were “free, they just have an embarrassing story to go along with those cool tats.

This reminds me of a another holiday story involving some old friends. About 10 years ago, there were a couple of my friends home alone for the first week of the new year. The family consisted of the eldest brother and his younger and brother. The eldest brother grilled steaks one night, and as they were eating, the younger brother got up from the table to use the bathroom. When he did, he reached across his older brothers plate to steal a piece of steak. This move would be costly to them both. The eldest brother instinctively grabbed his steak knife and wielded it towards his younger brother, as he ran for the bathroom. The knife found the younger brother’s lower back and stuck near the kidney.

Regular procedure when anyone is brought into the hospital for a stab wound (or a gunshot wound), is that the police are called, and a written report is filed. The younger brother opted not to press charges on his older brother, but for seven years he had major pull with his brother because of the statue of limitations.

When playing with sharp objects or loaded weapons this year, remember, God watches out for fools and babies. Some of us are a little bit too large to be in one of those categories.