Hi there, and thank you for reading my editorial.
At A Glance Author Valo Contact [email protected] IAM Valo When N/A First, I'd like to tell you a bit about myself. I'm a 23 year-old male from eastern Canada (New Brunswick, to be exact) and have been getting tattooed since the age of fifteen (at the circus, no less). Eight years, and about 125+ hours under the tattoo gun later, I'm starting to really have tattoos that are easily visible (both of my forearms are covered, and you can see something coming up the back of my neck). I also have my ears stretched to over 5/8" (currently stretching). I also want to point out that I'm by no means an idiot. I've got a genius-level IQ, and was the owner/manager of a record store before I was even legal to drink (19). I've also been a concert organiser, promoter, and have done some webmaster work for a local wrestling promotion.
What I'd really like to talk about here is the problems I've been recieving with some places of work over the course of the last year or so, after I took the decision to get my forearms inked. Prior to this, I had gotten some glares whenever someone would spot my upper arm tattoos, but no big deal, as they weren't that prominent. I also got the usual "did that hurt?", "why?" or other questions, all of which can easily be answered. I can respect people questioning what they don't know. It's human nature, afterall.
The first time I've gotten serious problems was when I started work training for the call center of a well-known courier service (name withheld). I had gotten the job through a placement agency, and when I got interviewed by both the agency and by the company people, I questionned them about having some tattoos which were visible when I wore a short-sleeved shirt. They said as long as it wasn't offensive tattoos, that it wouldn't be any problem. I showed her what I had (an alien lady and the start of an HR Giger-inspired tattoo), and they said, and I quote: "As long as you have nothing racist, sexist, or otherwise derogatory towards anyone or anything, you will have no problems within the company". I took that as face-value, and got hired.
Two weeks into the four week training, I started noticing people giving me some dirty looks in the break room (no one from my training class, but more seasoned, older agents on the floor, as well as some supervisors). I wondered what it was for, as I was generally one to keep to myself most of the time, though I had an idea what it was about. The third week I was there, I overheard two people talking while I was using the phone. One of them asked the other one "have you seen that freak with all the tattoos and the big holes in his ears?", to what the other replied "yeah, I did, I don't think he'll last a month here. what's he trying to prove anyways?". I immediately walked up and calmly sat down right beside them, without saying a word. They looked at me, got up and left.
After training was done that day, I chose to speak to my trainer about this issue, where she told me that "people talk. As long as you show up on time and do the work you're paid to do, you have nothing to worry about". I again took her word as face-value, and finished my week's work.
I show up and to my day of training Monday On Tuesday, however, I get a call just as I was about to head out the door from my contact person at the placement agency. I was told to not come into training, and the contract with me was terminated as of 5:00pm the night before. I asked her if I could meet her about the situation, she agreed. I went into the agency later that day to speak with her, where she said that the reasons I was given was my "constant tardiness" (I had not once been late, my slide card could prove that), my "attitude towards others was rubbing people the wrong way" (again, when I'm new to a company, I tend to be quiet, sit back and learn), and that I was "making sympathetic remarks towards the sniper" (this was happening at that time. Not only did I not mention a thing about it, but I did my best to not follow it). After I denied everything, she said that while I was still in my first 90-day probationary period, that they could lay me off without giving an y reason. Official reason for my firing: "not compatible with *company name*'s standards". I wanted to fight this, but with not getting anything in writing, and just taking their words for it, I had nothing to back my case. I asked if I could speak to the trainer and/or interviewer, they both declined to speak with me. I was once again without a job.
While this bothered me, there was nothing I could do about it. I first thought it could have been something I did, but looking back, I was number one in the class as far as testing went, I was always in on time, and even helped out one person who was having trouble learning the material in class, and he still to this day works for the company. I was actually called back just before I moved from that town, and was offered another position within the company. I politely declined. I would rather be broke than work for a prejudicial company.
Either way, I moved on, and landed a temporary job for a collection agency. I didn't mention my tattoos, and decided to keep them covered, as it was only a 2-week position. Unfortunately, the manager spotted my giger tattoo and noticed it had an upside-down skull, thought it to be offensive, and asked me to keep it covered up. I didn't like it, but I did so. I performed better than most temporary employees (2nd place performance-wise out of 7 people), and they ended up offering permanent jobs to 5 of us. I did not get offered the position. Nothing I could do about it, but it still sucked. This was one more reason to add to other personal reasons I had in relocating.
Brings me to my current position within the company I work for (name withheld again). I have been working here for about three months, and for the most part I have been very happy with the company I'm with. I asked upon applying for this position whether I would have this happen to me again, and was told here is a department here who deals with harrasment as well as discrimination. When the representative for the department came to talk to our training class, I set up an appointment to speak with her, as I didn't want to disturb the rest of the training class with my issues. I did so the next day, where I was explained and given a specific policy within the company, where it states under the racial discrimination portion that "Tattoos - Tattoos are color on the skin, making any discrimination towards someone because of the color(s) of one's skin can be grounds for disciplinary action and/or termination." About time a company actually put tattoos in there.
Still, with this policy, I'm having problems with a few higher-ups within the company. At first it was just some stares and questioning in the hallways or in the elevator. I also had three occasions where someone asked to see my company ID, because they didn't know who I was, and the building is controled. Even if no one else in my training class was asked to do so, I just thought of it as people not knowing who I was. No big deal. Today, however, I was brought in to speak to one of the managers, who happens to be a much older lady, who is apparently retiring this year. She's always looked at me funny, but there's nothing I can do about that - it's people's nature to stare at what's different, I guess. She started speaking to me, and instead of looking at my face she was constantly leering and staring at my tattooed arms. She was going on about how my performance wasn't up to par compared to the other people from my training class. Again, if it were true, I would have been apologetic, and would have asked how I could have improved my performance. Thing is, she was on vacation last week where we (the five people from my training class working my department) compared our stats for our first month. I finished second, right under the one girl who worked here as a temp for 3 summers. I asked the other three people to see if she talked to them about their stats after I was done the meeting, they all said the y didn't. I even had to ask her to look me in the eyes, because I was getting uncomfortable and a little annoyed with being stated in the arm instead of the face.
This is really showing, in retrospect, that no matter what the policy on body modification is, there will always be those people in the workforce, much like in real life, who can't look past the modifications you choose to make to your body. To those people, I say grow up, and get to know people for who they are, not what they look like. You can try to do the right thing and ignore them, but what to do when those people are your supervisors, managers, and people in power of signing your pink slip? Are you supposed to hide in a corner hoping for them not to be able to tell what mods you have? Are you supposed to do everything you can to hide your mods? what if you can't ignore them, and it affects your work quality? Do you try to go above them and complain? If you do complain, what will the people you complain to think? will they give you a fair break about the situation, and look into it? Will they just look at it as "the guy with the tattoos/piercings complaining about some one who's been here for years and years"? I'm like most people, who will choose to take it, and keep my job. I need the money, and can't afford to lose this job.
Bottom line, in my opinion, is this: In the line of work I'm in (call center work), does it really matter what I look like? I NEVER meet anyone I speak with in person. All my work is done through the phone. So what does it matter what I look like? are people so insecure that they can't face "one of them" as having his own look and opinion about how he wants to present himself? Do they think my tattoos will somehow change them when they go home at night? it's not like I have the plague, it's color drawings on my skin which represent who I am and what I believe in.
In my mind, them criticizing me is no better than them being predjudice towards someone because they're, african-american, middle-eastern, native american or asian, because they're making assumptions and accusations based on the color(s) of my skin.
It should make no difference, as long as I do my job, and I do it well.
Thank you very much for taking the time to read this article. I hope it one day reaches the desks of some "bigwig" executive, and makes them think twice about how they view modded people.
Sincerely,
-"Valo"
