I’ve been in my current apprenticeship for over 10 months at this point. I’m at the stage where i’m focusing on techniques with fake skins and whatnot. I’m running into issues with my current mentor and i’m not sure if it’s normal. I open and close the shop 5 days a week 8 hours a day which is pretty standard for apprentices from what I hear. I was sick last week and had to miss a day at the shop. That made him upset and he started questioning me and asking me if I was serious about this career path. We’ve had a few similar instances where that’s happened before. He told me that in this industry you can’t be sick because that costs you your money. I understand where he’s coming from because yes if I was taking clients and got sick then i’d be out of money for that day. I also know that i’m not at the point where i’m taking clients. On top of that i’m practicing at the shop by myself daily. I don’t really learn much as far as technique goes because i’m alone at the shop most of the time teaching myself. I can’t tell if there’s red flags or if these things are normal. He recently told me that once i return from my trip that if i miss another day for being sick or close early or show up late that he’s “done with me”. I don’t understand why me not opening the shop one day out of the week warrants this type of response. For added context, the shop i’m currently at has no other artists just my mentor. That being said the shop is extremely slow and we rarely get walk-ins. I guess i’m just curious to see if i’m being a little baby or if this may not be an ideal apprenticeship to complete. 

There’s tons of things I do for my mentor that don’t necessarily relate to tattooing at all like taking care of his newborn baby he brings to the shop, or picking up and dropping off his daughter. 

I’m just curious to know if any of this is normal or if this  seems like a red flag situation.

Should I continue this apprenticeship?