Discrimination is not just black or white, male or female!
I am really pissed right now. The past two nights at work have felt like an attack on who I am. A challenge to how much I will mold myself to suit a company. I'm fucking tired of it. The simple fact is that there are a lot of us. It is difficult to get exact statistics, but studies show that about 18% of college students have tattoos (up from about 10% in 1997). Employment studies by Vault.com showed that about 20% of the general working population says that their tattoos or piercings have hindered their progress in the job market. Certain demographic groups show higher numbers; for example, a full third of those involved in computer gaming have piercings and tattoos. Whatever the precise number is, it's clear that it's a gigantic group -- most likely approximately one in five people. For comparison, that means there twice as many people with piercings and tattoos in America as their are African Americans or Hispanics. In addition, when we compare the growth rate of the modified community, we are growing at a rate dramatically faster than any other demographic group. BMEZine.com - Bod Mod and Class War
A few weeks ago I sat down for lunch with a group of co-workers which included a woman known for her nosiness. My nose ring was brought up (we were sitting very close together...about 8 people at a 4 person table) in relation to the email received about facial piercings and the dress code. I just ignored it because most of the people in the store have never noticed I even have a nose ring. You pretty much have to be on top of me to see it. I can't even take pictures without giant pore photography. Fast forward to yesterday...As in most chain stores there is a hierarchy of managers (owner, district, store, assistant store, customer service, front end, department, etc.) One of the lower managers (just above department) is a complete bitch drunk on nonexistent authority. I believe this is also common, no? She is constantly spouting out orders from the service desk. This has given her the nickname Hitler (from me). A few months ago she came over to the video department and told Maureen (department manager) that her "girls need to tuck their shirts in." This pissed us all off for one reason or another. Maureen's shirts are too short to tuck, my pants are too big on me so if I tuck it's undone again in five minutes, etc. It's also annoying because this woman doesn't follow dress code AT ALL! The bitch wears fucking sweatpants and has never donned the button front shirts that all managers excluding departments are supposed to wear. She looks fucking trashy 24/7 and she's gonna tell us to tuck in our shirts? BTW, the store manager has never said a word to us. Ok sorry on with what happened yesterday. I went up to the service desk to get a $100 loan. I barely got the words out of my mouth and she told me I needed to take out my nose ring. No questions or pre-order niceties at all. Take it out. I asked why (granted, with my teeth gritted...grit? whatever) and she replied that it was against the dress code. I asked since when and she said "since forever." For real! I mentioned that nobody had said anything before and she was like "Well I need to put up a sign." Whatever...I walked off. I talked to mom about it after work and told her I wasn't going to take it out until I had a retainer. A few years ago (when the piercing was already like a year and a half old) I took it out and left it empty for about 5 hours and it grew over. I had to get the shit done again! Luckily Shannon hooked me up cause she's awesome. I've come to the conclusion that my cartilage heals more quickly because the same thing happened to my ear. Mom's answer was to just keep my nose ring in until somebody write me up (haha). I couldn't get to the mall today because I had to go to work as soon as mom got off. So I went to work with the nose ring still present, knowing bitch would be there and I would probably have to defend myself. Yay. When I got there I told Maureen what had transpired the night before. This is where I put two and two together. She said that a few days ago David (assistant manager) had told her that I needed to take my nose ring out. Maureen was like she doesn't have a nose ring. He said nosy bitch had told him I do. This is my entire point about nobody even noticing it. My manager had no clue and she sees me generally 4 days a week. I had been at work tonight for about an hour when Connie walked over to video while I had two customers browsing. Before she could say anything I told her I still had my nose ring in because I would not take it out until I had a retainer for it. She immediately got pissy. She asked why I couldn't just take it out for a few hours while I was at work so I explained my previous experience. I'm serious guys she was like fucking shaking she was so mad. And her voice kept rising every time she spoke. One of the customers looked at her and walked off. The other is a regular that I've gotten to know pretty well so he stayed. By this point I was even answering with ma'am! So she told me I needed to drop my attitude towards her, that I'd had one yesterday and today. I said "Well I've been here for 1 year and 9 months. I was hired with it and nobody has said anything until now. I just don't understand." So she completely went back on what she had said the night before with "It's a new policy." Oook... So she ended by saying that she would be happy to shut down video early and send me home. After she left in a huff my regular walked up and asked what her problem was. Now if he had not said this I never would have pushed the issue. I would have just left it and maybe said something to Maureen on Friday. But he mentioned that what she had done was incredibly unprofessional and she may have cost us a customer. So I left a note for Maureen trying to outline everything. I don't think she'll be very happy at all about the sending me home comment. It's irresponsible. We were pretty busy tonight and would have lost around $50 if I'd been sent home early. I ended my note by saying that I would buy a retainer tomorrow and if that were not enough I would have to seek employment where it is. I feel like it is a HUGE deal for me to even get the retainer. My nose ring is a part of me. I've had it for 5 years and have only taken it out that one time. There are quite a few places to work now where piercings and tattoos are not an issue. They're the norm!
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lethalbubblegum) wrote,
bitchy
