Like many of us–myself included–Eric Rico Ortiz is scared of spiders. Luckily, the 24 year old from Florida (shocker) devised an innovative way to force himself to overcome the common phobia: by getting a massive black widow tattooed on his right cheek.
Listen, let’s not make assumptions about face tattoos. Yes, they are about as well-regarded as breastfeeding teenagers or plastic-covered couches, but Ortiz’s is a delicate psychological experiment.
Explains the tatted arachnophobic,
That’s why I got it. Just to, like, make me know, that that’s what I fear, but not to fear it. You know what I’m saying? Everybody looks at it like damn Spider, cause if you’re going around your house you know what I’m saying, you see those spiders, you’re going to jump, you’re going to jump, so putting one on my face, I say you know what, I’m going to see what people think.”
Ortiz presumes that if he can one day look at his own face in the mirror without jumping, he will be cured and ready to own a terrarium full of tarantulas. I’m not convinced that just because he becomes accustomed to a drawing on his body, Ortiz would no longer jump if a real black widow crawled across his cheek — but hey, I admire his optimism.
The misunderstood pioneer admits that people often judge him for having a conspicuously horrifying spider tattoo on his face, admitting, “Some people say, ‘Why did you get it? You’re never going to get a job.’”
Thankfully, others appreciate that Ortiz is making a valuable contribution to the field of cognitive behavioral therapy. “Some people say, ‘It’s cool, man. The tattoo on the face, I would never get it but that one came out cool.'”
If you are wondering if your face tattoo may also be the exception that “came out cool,” it’s not.
Ortiz began gathering attention for his unique appearance after a reporter for the Daytona Beach News-Journal saw him in court dealing with a driving license suspension and was all, “hey, I have to get the scoop on that guy with the spider tattoo.” (Probably.)
Ortiz also has a long and fairly serious rap sheet, but at the risk of stereotyping pioneers in the fields of mental health who also happen to have spider face tattoos, I’m not going to tell you what he did.
And ladies, I know you’re wondering: yes, Ortiz is single. His heart became a martyr to the arachnophobic cause when his girlfriend left him over the controversial ink. “She was mad at me,” Ortiz explained to the Daytona Beach News-Journal.
Ortiz also has a message for all the haters slinging web at him on Facebook for his spiderface:
“IF I COULD START FROM SCRATCH I WOULDN’T CHANGE SHIT!!!! UR GAY DONT JUDGE ME!!!!!”
Yup, it definitely seems like fear of spiders is the phobia this genius needed to tackle first.
(via Huffington Post, image via Facebook)
- RIP the worst tattoo in the world
- Here, have a horrifying Steve Buscemi/Darth Vader hybrid
- Spiders are scary even when they dance
