[thephyber]

There's hundreds of thousands of programmers out of work from recent layoffs. Getting a small tattoo to stand out in a crowd doesn't necessarily signal bad judgement. It's more likely to be a calculated sacrifice due to desperation. Other people might have a beer, talk with the artist while they are getting inked, then enjoy having a stupid story to tell others. I wouldn't do it in my current situation, but I don't know what I would do if I was homeless and hungry.

Also, you did the counterfactual wrong. You can't simply say "if I were that CEO" and then change the ethics of the situation and of the person and who has agency in the situation.

Don't get me wrong. I wouldn't want to work for this guy. But that doesn't mean I'm going to shit on people who would consider it, even if they have to do something I would consider degrading.