First a little background for perspective...
I am a 27 year old electrical engineer, professionally employed by a large semiconductor company. I have a college degree, and work in a position commensurate with my education. The company I work for has a liberal policy regarding dress and professional demeanor, though the atmosphere is far from libertarian. As a designer, my job is mostly a creative one. Though my profession is technical, I am not often required to interact directly with customers. I was raised in an atmosphere of tolerance, and was taught from an early age both in principal and by example that diverse ideas and cultures are to be embraced and celebrated, rather than reviled. I got my ear pierced at age 17, and became fascinated with the counterculture which surrounded the piercing and tattooing community which was gaining momentum in my area as I entered my first years of college. I got my first tattoo, a black ankh on my shoulder, my freshman year in college. I was the only electrical engineering student with a tattoo, but the atmosphere of tolerance on my college campus reached just far enough into my department that a tattoo was accepted with only a minimum of surprise. My senior year in college, I built up enough resolve and courage to do something really bold: a tongue piercing. The pain has always been the problem for me, but I have also looked at it as part of the challenge. The pain of a piercing is a zen accompaniment to the delight of a new piercing, Yen and Yang. I chose a week when I had no commitments (I believe it was Spring Break). I found a talented local artist who I located through word of mouth. Her reputation was well founded. With her encouragement, I was able to face the piercing with only a minimum of trepidation, and was perfectly prepared for the care and maintenance of the pierce. Everything went without a hitch. My college classmates were amused, but not shocked. 5 years ago I graduated from college and began my career as a semiconductor design engineer.
My experience since college has been something less than ideal. After I got my job, I was required to go through a series of interviews to determine where I would fit best in the company (it's a BIG company). The first day of interviews, three of the supervisors noticed and commented on the tongue stud. Being mostly middle aged white guys, their reactions were mostly predictable. One guy actually asked me about the tongue stud, then repeatedly reminded me that my employment was contingent on passing a drug test. I patiently tried to explain to him that the stud in my tongue didn't mean that I was on drugs any more than the color of his tie meant that he smoked cigars. I didn't receive an offer from any of the supervisors who noticed the stud. I was to receive this type of treatment over and over again in my early professional career. I have found an understanding supervisor now, but have been passed up multiple times for positions where I would be required to deal more directly with customers or upper management. I am a talented engineer, so they don't dare fire me, not in this technically starved job market, but the stigma remains. My "random" drug tests aren't so random. The average time between drug tests for most people in my area is 4 years. I have a drug test about every 12 weeks. I have never done drugs. I don't personally believe that there should be a stigma attached to casual drug use, it's mostly a victimless crime. I do, however, believe that my mind is my most valuable asset, so I choose not to do anything which might affect my talents in any way. I have explained this every way I know how to my employer, but I have been tagged as a "weirdo", and I get to live with it every day of my life.
I believe my problems as a professional can be attributed to fear and misunderstanding by the conservative majority. The same fear which inexplicably propels the Southern Baptist Convention to boycott Disney for tolerance of gays (heaven forbid a person should be gay) instills a sense of mistrust toward anyone in a professional position who flaunts society's conventions. The stereotype is promulgated by the same fear as the racial stereotypes which tear our country apart at the seams: Mexicans are lazy, Black people are crack addicts, Middle Eastern people are terrorists, Jews are money hungry, and people who pierce are shifty, drug addicted slackers with no real skills and no regard for the norms of society. As a person with a piercing, I am more than happy to associate myself with a group of outcasts. Outcasts are the spice in the melting pot that makes this a free country. Racial minorities, gay people, weirdos, freaks and outcasts are all the People of Color which make life so very vibrant, and I choose to remain both a freak and a professional.