{"id":852164,"date":"2026-06-08T04:55:33","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T04:55:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/852164\/"},"modified":"2026-06-08T04:55:33","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T04:55:33","slug":"woman-shares-tattoo-she-got-a-week-before-covid-19-that-aged-like-milk-almost-immediately","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/852164\/","title":{"rendered":"Woman shares tattoo she got a week before COVID-19 that \u2018aged like milk\u2019 almost immediately"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s amazing to consider just how quickly the world changed in early 2020. One day, we were all just casually going along, living our lives. And then the next day, everything was different. If you were to have told someone in February of 2020<\/a> that the entire country would soon go on some form of lockdown<\/a>, nearly everyone would be wearing a mask<\/a>, and over a million people were going to die due to a virus<\/a>, no one would have believed you.<\/p>\n

Yet, it happened. And in addition to changing the world as we know it, it also sparked a sharp political and cultural divide<\/a> here in the United States.<\/p>\n

Leah Holland got one of the most poorly-timed tattoos ever<\/p>\n

PPE masks were the last thing on Leah Holland of Georgetown, Kentucky\u2019s, mind on March 4, 2020<\/a>, when she got a tattoo inspired by the words of a close friend.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were just talking about things we admire about each other and he said, \u2018You courageously and radically refuse to wear a mask,\u2019 like meaning that I\u2019m undeniably myself. I thought that was a really poetic way of saying that,\u201d Holland told Fox 13.<\/a><\/p>\n

So, she had \u201ccourageously & radically refuse to wear a mask\u201d tattooed<\/a> on her left forearm.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a beautiful sentiment about Leah\u2019s dedication to being her true self. It\u2019s also a reminder for Holland to remain true to herself throughout her life.<\/p>\n

However, the tattoo would take on a very different meaning just two days later, when the first case of COVID-19<\/a> was reported in Kentucky<\/a>. Almost immediately, everyone in the country was advised to wear masks whenever they left the house. Some refused, citing their own personal freedom to do with their body as they wish. Holland had, completely inadvertently, taken sides in a massive culture war with some simple black ink on her forearm.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt basically looked like I\u2019m totally, you know, anti-mask or whatever, which is not the case,\u201d said Holland.<\/p>\n

Now, she was embarrassed to be seen with the tattoo for fear she\u2019d be associated with the anti-maskers who either deny the existence of the virus or refuse to wear a mask to protect others. Either way, it\u2019s a bad look.<\/p>\n

So Leah started wearing long-sleeve shirts and cardigan sweaters whenever in public to cover up the tattoo.<\/p>\n

TikTok users asked each other to share their \u2018dumbest tattoo\u2019<\/p>\n

In her video response, she talks about how her tattoo was about \u201cnot pretending to be something you\u2019re not,\u201d but then revealed it to show how, in an incredibly ironic twist, it made her out to be someone she isn\u2019t. \u201cI just kind of wanted people to laugh with me because I think it\u2019s funny now, too,\u201d said Holland. At least the tattoo was able to spark a little levity in some dark times.<\/p>\n

Plenty of people on TikTok laughed along with her with one user suggesting she update the tattoo with the phrase: \u201cHindsight is 2020.\u201d Another playfully accused her of \u201cjinxing\u201d the world and causing the virus outbreak. Another suggested adding an asterisk and \u201cexcept during COVID\u201d to the tattoo.<\/p>\n

Some commenters tried to make her feel better about her poorly-timed body art. \u201cMaybe tattoo a pair of theatre masks (one smiling, the other crying) on top, but for now, wear a hoodie,\u201d one user wrote. \u201cDon\u2019t worry, in 15 years it will have its original meaning again!\u201d another added.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was dying laughing. I\u2019m like, I\u2019m glad there are people that find this as funny as I think it is,\u201d said Holland.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will be a funny story to tell years from now,\u201d she said. \u201cI don\u2019t think it will ever not be a funny story.\u201d<\/p>\n

Years later, she still has to explain it<\/p>\n

As the pandemic abated, Holland still had to explain her tattoo. The risks associated with COVID decreased significantly, and while the fierce debate over personal freedom versus masks has largely faded, it remains a defining cultural memory of the era. Should you wear a mask in public when you\u2019re sick? Should you ever be required to wear a mask? How do you balance individual rights with our need to live in a cooperative society? Most won\u2019t soon forget the COVID-19 era in America, and there\u2019s no doubt that many will still feel passionate about those who refused to wear masks. Just don\u2019t lump Holland in with that group because of a poorly timed, but quite beautiful, sentiment. She\u2019d never wear a mask, unless it were to protect herself and others from a deadly virus.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared five years ago.<\/p>\n

The post Woman shares tattoo she got a week before COVID-19 that \u2018aged like milk\u2019 almost immediately<\/a> appeared first on Upworthy<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s amazing to consider just how quickly the world changed in early 2020. One day, we were all…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":852165,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[6],"tags":[64,7823,149670,348034,118068,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-852164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-covid","tag-holland","tag-leah-holland","tag-tattoo","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116712710303493998","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/852164","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=852164"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/852164\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/852165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=852164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=852164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=852164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}