At Logan Airport last week, I caught a rather unusual sight: a woman had carved a large (eight inches across) round hole in the leg of her blue jeans and through that hole could be seen an equally large tattoo. I couldn’t make out the artwork. A few days later, I saw a young woman at the beach with a large tattoo on her right thigh, which — a nearby teenager helpfully explained — featured a collage of sights from Freddy Krueger movies (“Nightmare on Elm Street,” etc.). I got to thinking about the increasing prevalence of tattoos today, so I decided to conduct some research.

First, though, a confession: I have a brand. In the fall of 1960, every new member of the Zeta Psi fraternity at Bowdoin got branded with a Z and the symbol for “Psi” on his right arm. We were eager to show them to our dates that weekend, convinced that they’d be impressed. Maybe, upon reflection, they weren’t. Incidentally, the branding practice was halted a few years later, after the College determined that branding was “barbaric.” Cam Niven, the Publisher of The Times Record for decades, had been a member of the same fraternity; I assume he took pride in his brand.

Anyway, I began my research by talking with Mia Broughton, an engaging and industrious young tattoo aficionado who works 20-25 hours a week as a tattoo artist apprentice at Altered Image Tattoo in Brunswick in addition to her full-time job at Gelato Fiasco. Mia got her first tattoo (a sun on her wrist) at age 18, and she’s added several since. The subjects range from vegetables, owls and sea creatures to, my favorite, a quotation in Russian, which when translated means, “With company one’s death loses its sting.”

Mia, who earned a degree in art therapy at Lesley University in Cambridge, explains her love of tattoos, “It’s a form of self expression for me. Having art on my body is awesome.” At some point, she hopes to work full time as a tattoo artist.

I recently read a fascinating memoir (“Hunger”) by Roxanne Gay in which she described the urge to get another tattoo in sensuous terms.

“Now and again, I get the urge for a new tattoo. I get the urge to feel connected to my body in a way I am rarely allowed. I get the urge to be touched in that very specific way, the artist holding some part of my body, their hand sheathed in latex while using this tool, this weapon really, forcing a series of needles into my skin over and over again, the plain flesh becoming more and more tender.”

Just for kicks, I asked some friends — real and virtual — for their views on tattoos. The verdict: People either love tattoos or hate them, it seems, and young people are more favorably disposed to the art form than older people. Examples: “I love them. Your body is your canvas.”…”I have five with a sixth coming soon. I choose to place them in places where I can decide if I want them seen or not, mostly because of the negative judgments some people have of them.”….”My partial sleeve was my middle-age rage against the machine.”….”Ugly!”….”They make someone look cheap.”….”I would never have a tattoo but live and let live, I say.” Some older people noted that they were thinking of getting a tattoo to keep up with their grandchildren. One college student wrote that one of his professors even had one. One person in her sixties confessed that her younger male companion said one reason he loves her body is that it has no tattoos. (Something to consider.)

Some tattoo tidbits: Fourteen percent of the population have at least one tattoo; the military is the most tattoo-friendly career; Whole Foods is the most tattoo-friendly employer, and San Francisco is the most tattoo friendly city; tattoos can cost from $50, at a minimum, to well over $1,000; it’s more expensive — and more painful — to remove a tattoo than to get one.

For what it’s worth, here’s where I come out on the subject. I’m all for people — young or old — getting tattoos to express their individuality. That said, anyone getting a tattoo should think long and hard about what they’re going to put on their body and where. What will a Freddy Krueger tattoo on your leg look like 30 or 40 years from now, young woman we saw on the beach? You’re doing the tattoo for yourself, and that is as it should be. But, like it or not, your tattoos convey a message about you. What message do you want to send? Perhaps you don’t care.

I emerged from this exercise with one lingering thought. My Zeta Psi brand is now so faded that it’s barely visible. Maybe a Zeta Psi tattoo is in order.

David Treadwell, a Brunswick writer, welcomes commentary and suggestions for future “Just a Little Old” columns at dtreadw575@aol.com