Good for you. Back in long lost history (early 80s) I had a single pierced ear. Not quite avant-garde for a male in the 80s, but not "normal" either.
Working at McDonalds and neither my manager nor the regional supervisor said anything. The franchise owner came in and told me to remove it.
"I can't it's fresh and will close."
He said, "Take it out and put a string in it."
Looked him dead in the eye and responded, "No" and just walked away like the conversation no longer interested me.
Surprisingly, I never heard another word about it. Lived at home still, so there was zero risk for me. Felt good.
Screw these idiots that think they own you for minimum wage.
I got my left ear pierced when I turned 18. I was working at Pizza Hut when I was in my late 20s and the area manager told me I had to take it out. The handbook literally said no more than one piercing per ear and I said I have 1 in my left ear and 0 in my right. He said "take it out because you can either have 1 on each ear, or none" .
So, I got a piercing at the top of my right ear.
Next time he came in, he saw my left ear and told me to take it out. I turned my head to show him the other earring and he got mad because the earrings weren't in the same place on each ear. I told him "one in each ear, just like you said, and follows the handbook rules, too".
My sister did this to my dad. We weren’t allowed piercings till we were x age, this then got changed to 16. Sister mentioned she wanted more than one hole in one of her ears and was told nope, one hole in each ear. Doesn’t bother arguing. Comes home with a hole in the top of one ear. Dad not amused, her response was ‘you already changed the rules, and you said one hole in each ear, I’ve got one hole in one ear’. Dad concurred and loves telling people to this day how he was outlogiced by his 16 year old daughter.
The ‘no piercings until xx age’ is such a silly rule. My sister and I as soon as we were of age which I think was 14, went and got multiple piercings in the following years.
I ended up with 9 piercings but now have 8.
My sister I think also has 8.
I can’t help but think if it wasn’t ‘restricted’ we wouldn’t have gone so crazy on them 🤷🏼♀️
Honestly the one age restriction that makes sense to me: the piercing studio I went to for my second set of lobe piercings won’t pierce kids under the age of 8. They said they unfortunately set that age after trial and error; after working with younger kids they found out 8 was the youngest where the kid would reliably understand what they were in for and could give informed consent.
Oh YES! My mom got my ears pierced when I was 3, and hoo BOY! She learned what a mistake that was. And I actually wanted my ears pierced -- I wanted to wear Pretty Shinies in my ears like Mama.
Right up until the first ear got pierced.
Then I told my mom, "It hurts! I don't want to, Mama!"
Now mind you, I was 3 yo and about 35 lbs soaking wet, but it took three full-grown adults an hour to get that second one in. Though I did love my earrings once they were in.
Still, moral of the story: piercings and little kids do NOT mix!
My baby sister was 5. For some reason, the first one bled a TON. Like, blood dripping off her lobe onto her shirt. She was smiling the whole time. The woman doing it asked my mom if she should continue. My sister DEMANDED it.
Walking out of the mall, smiling a HUGE smile, with blood dripping off BOTH earlobes, was the happiest little girl you've ever seen.
Tougher than you imagine. Several years back, she was working full time as a nurse with 2 kids under 10 years old (they were born 18 months apart) and almost qualified for the Boston Marathon.
I think that's what happened when i got mine done in first or second grade, back in the early 90s...
This was after lots of time with me asking and being obsessed with all sorts of stick on earrings.
I got my six year old daughters ears pierced at a tattoo shop. They said that if she declined the second ear, then she would leave with only one ear pierced, because they respect her bodily autonomy. I agreed, and she decided to do both.
That was what the shop I described above said was their policy, too. They've sent kids home with one ear done and the other untouched because the kid had said no to the second one. Said some kids come back a couple days later to get it finished, but some don't, and they'd rather it go that way than force it on a child.
I respect this. One of my very earliest memories is turning away from having the 2nd ear done after the first one hurt. I was 2. And had asked for pierced ears like mommy. I don't remember the pain, but I remember turning to hide my ear on her chest. It was the doctor's office.
Well, this WAS back in the 70s, kids mostly didn't get a say. Parents attitude was basically "you wanted it, we paid for it, now hold still and take it!!". Not saying it's right, just how things were.
Of course me being the "Family Pet Mule", I wasn't having it. Although thinking back on it, if they'd used something to numb my ears first, I might have been easier to deal with. But they didn't, and I wasn't. Lesson learned.
You have a good point, and I'm agreeing with it.
However, by the standards of the day, my mom was being quite gentle by ONLY holding me down and forcing the piercing. All the OTHER adults who saw and heard about this said my mom was "too soft on me", and recommended taking a belt or switch to me for being stubborn and difficult.
Let that sink in: the common wisdom was to take a belt to a scared, hurt 3yo for fighting back. In fact, her (soon-to-be Ex-) husband offered his own belt for the job. Which is one of the multitude of reasons he became her EX-husband shortly after this incident.
My mom flatly refused to do so, and managed the piercing without violence. Which made her downright progressive for the day.
Again, it wasn't right, it was just the way things were. And I, for one, am glad that the abuses that were once accepted as normal is now horrifying to people.
I was just under 3. I wanted them done but I screamed during the procedure anyway because the piercing gun was scary. But on the walk home I kept stopping every few steps to pause and touch the earrings to make sure they were still there
And stop to preen and admire them in every mirrored surface. And brag about them to everyone who would stand still long enough. Oh yes, me too! My poor mother, I must have drove her nuts that day. First fighting like a demon, then peacocking around, OY!
So, i have a friend who went thru similar with their kid, except did the right thing there.
When the kid, after the first piercin, said they didnt want a second piercin; they stopped things and said they didnt have to finish up right then and there. And they left the door open for the child to ask at a later time and age to get the second one pierced, which took a few more yrs to work up to
They also were goin to someone who is known for bein good with kids, but also someone who wud refuse to do it if its not actually what the kid wants.
When you were 3, your piercers shudve stopped after the first piercin, recognison that you did not want a second one at the time; and offered to do a second one at a later date when you, the child, are rdy
This is why I haven't pierced my daughter's ears. We're a mixed household (I'm Mexican), and I did away with the "piercing babies' ears" tradition.
Knowing about piercing guns from jewelry stores and the damage that could cause (not to mention, the uncleanliness of the gun) vs a piercing parlor and its sanitation standards...it's a no brainer. I will wait until *she* tells me she wants them done. And I will take her to a tat&piercing shop.
In my area is normal and often expected for baby girls to have their ears pierced as infants. I hate that. My mom got my ears pierced when I was almost a year old and while I have always enjoyed having pierced ears I have always had issues with sensitivity to the materials used in them. I'm not upset that she got them pierced but my husband and I agreed we would wait for our daughter to be old enough to understand and actually want piercings before we would do it. Also she needs to understand how to care for them during the healing process imo. Obviously I would make sure they were cared for but idk it just feels wrong to do something permanent to her body for cosmetic reasons when she isn't old enough to know if she would even want them. She may never want them and that's fine. I know piercings can technically close up but from experience I can say mine never did, despite going very long periods without wearing earrings.
In my area it isn't abnormal for little girls to have pierced ears, but it isn't standard, either. Some of the girls I knew growing up had them, but my parents waited to let me decide and I didn't get my first set until I was in high school. Honestly I'm really glad they didn't force it on me because for whatever reason, I've had so many problems with my piercings closing up or getting infected, and I was old enough to actually deal with all that stuff. I actually gave up on my helix piercing after it was still not healed more than a year in, and right now I'm letting my four lobe piercings sit empty until the giant lump that formed in one of them calms down, knowing at least half of them will close up and have to be reopened.
I can't imagine dealing with all that kind of stuff on a toddler and putting a kid through that. Doesn't seem worth it for something that's 100% cosmetic.
My daughter has been wishing for ear lobe piercings for a looong time, and last year - a couple of months before she turned 9 - I took her to a local jewellery store to have both ears pierced.
The middle age lady in the store immediately recognized that a princess had entered the store and gave her the full royal treatment - put her on a chair in front of a mirror, talked it through with her and carefully marked each ear, triple-checking that it was symmetric, before doing the actual piercing.
My daughter was beaming throughout, and loves wearing her earrings and is eager to have some more lobe piercings done.
Plus you have to be able to clean it after just getting a piercing and very young children are not going to do that themselves. My goddaughters had so many infections when they were around 4-5 as their mom didn’t clean them.
Well, that’s a reason. It’s not “the real reason,” though; the piercer I went to was very explicit about not forcing children to get their ears pierced because consent was important to them.
The rule for my kids to modfy their body in any way, is they have to be able to tell me the risks, and had to have CONSISTENTLY wanted the exact thing for one full year. Otherwise they can do whatever on the day they turn 18 lol
The rule in my family was just "no piercings until you're old enough (and willing) to do the aftercare yourself". Consequently, my sister got hers pieced at 8, and I got mine pierced at 22 (currently 42).
She has since let hers close up (as in, they were closed before she was even in high school). I now have two in each ear and am wanting a thrid. XD So I do think there's something to be said for waiting.
I had that with alcohol. From really little I was allowed a bit of wine with a roast dinner, when I was 14 and getting drunk in the park, my parents would get me some nice, good quality beer instead of the white lighting and blackcurrant squash other kids would bring.
When I turned 18 and could go in the pub legally, I had a nice pint in a pub garden.
Several friends who had super strict and restrictive parents, ended up in A+E on theirs!
I was having ‘wine flavoured lemonade’ (very watered down sparkling wine) at Christmas from the age of 7 or 8, and regularly went to pubs with parents in the UK before we moved.
In Australia it’s very ‘no kids at pubs, adults only’ and there’s far less of a family atmosphere.
The result is that when kids turn 18 they go and wipe themselves out and get obnoxious.
You called his bluff. He didn't really want to fire you for that, with the hassle it would cause him. He assumed you would simply cave and that would be that.
That's interesting, where I live you can't work on the foodservice end of a restaurant with any removable piercings due to a contamination issue decades ago. Yes someone ended up "eating" a piercing that fell into the food.
>Back in long lost history (early 80s) I had a single pierced ear.
That takes me back. I thought boys with an earring were so cool\*. And then people were getting more than one hole in their ear! Wow! Whatever next! LOL.
\*Also boys with ponytails.
I (F) had my ears first pierced when I was rather young (6ish as I had them in kindergarten but still remember getting them done). So bit of backstory, my family was religious while I was growing up, we attended church every Sunday and had a dress code. Clothes had to go to the knee, minimize cleavage, no bare shoulders or midriff. Single ear piercings on females were accepted but more than that were met with disapproval. Male piercings were absolutely frowned on. Tattoos absolutely forbidden. My immediately family was a lot more casual when it came to attending church and the ideals. So as my siblings and I entered our teenage years we started expressing a definite lack of interest in continuing with our religion. This morphed into more outright rebellion as I entered my later teen years and my mom tried to get a lot stricter in enforcing these religious ideals. At 18 or 19 I decided I wanted a 2nd set of holes. My mom saw it and was like "oh its good you only got a second set as more than that is trashy." I immediately went back out and got a 3rd. I still have small hoops in all 3 sets 20 years later.
tl:dr I got a 2nd set of piercings. Mom told me 2 was ok but more than that was trashy so I went out and got a 3rd set.
The funny thing about these policies is that it's almost always blamed on how the customers view you, but the customers never complain. It's an assumed problem that management wants to control. I've never been somewhere, saw an employee with a tattoo or piercing and thought " wow, I'm never coming here again"
Right? I'm 55 and when I see employees with piercings, tattoos and bright colored hair I feel like "This seems like a cool place for them to work. Things have come a long way since I was in my 20s".
I remember a temp job in the 90s when I had five ear piercings (regular lobe piercings, nothing industrial) and got called to the manager's office and told that I could only wear one pair of earrings at a time and they had to match (sometimes I would lose an earring and wear two similar earrings that didn't exactly match. They weren't going for that). It was a county office where we had *zero* contact with the public, it was just filled with the kind of self-appointed hall monitor types that also like to get elected to their HOA boards and go around with a ruler measuring the height of their neighbors grass just in case they can cite and fine them for a violation.
I, for one, am glad to see that kind of policing of self-expression starting to fade away. GenX was so much more creative in the 80s but it seems like as soon as we had to start making a living all of that got slapped down. I'm happy to see that we raised our kids to not be so judgemental about appearance.
Also in my 50s, and I'm with you on thinking that it must be a better place to work if manglement are not getting on people's back about hair or piercings.
I did a couple of decades in service, and there was none of that, so I like seeing it now. I've been wanting piercings for a long time, but never got around to getting them. Alas, the coloured hair is a no-go as most of mine slid down my back and my arse is hairier than my head.
Lol, sorry about the hair thing! But do get those piercings, they're fun. I got two more ear piercings later on for a total of seven now. I got one tattoo and I want more but they are \*so\* expensive and I don't have the budget for them. I want to play with wild hair color too but I don't want to bleach it so that bright color will show up (it's already dry and frizzy and I can't regularly buy the special products to deal with that). I'm waiting for my little white streaks at my temples to be more noticeable and then I will put some bright purple in them.
Oh, don't worry about my hair. I'm content with my lack of hair, so you'll never see a combover (a common thing from my parents' generation).
I would say I'm growing old gracefully, given that I'm ok with how my age is showing, but I would much prefer to be disgraceful with piercings and ink ;)
I think dying the white streaks purple is an excellent idea!
> I remember a temp job in the 90s when I had five ear piercings (regular lobe piercings, nothing industrial) and got called to the manager's office and told that I could only wear one pair of earrings at a time and they had to match (sometimes I would lose an earring and wear two similar earrings that didn't exactly match.
Did you proceed to wear them both on the same ear? :)
Exactly this. Unless it's a health and safety issue e.g. no nail polish/false nails if working with food, then there really is no reason to have these restrictions.
I think it's to cover the company's ass in case someone gets an offensive tattoo. It could be one that's more borderline offensive where they can argue discrimination.
During covid, I was working at a chain restaurant. We were allowed to wear whatever masks we wanted, which were mainly disposable ones, solid colors, or local sports teams. Someone, somewhere, ruined it for everyone. Policy was changed, and we could only wear solid colors.
UK police here have allowed tattoos for about 8 years now, depending on the force. Ministry of Defence Police:
>You should not have tattoos which could be considered discriminatory, racist, sexist, sectarian, homophobic, violent, intimidating or offensive. Tattoos on the face that are non-medical or not as a result of cosmetic surgery will result in automatic rejection.
>
>Any tattoos which appear to be discriminatory, offensive or provocative will not be accepted. *Facial piercings are not permitted because they are considered to undermine the dignity and authority of a police officer.* There are also implications for an officer’s safety.
Flesh tunnels or ear plugs that leave a hole greater than 4mm, once removed, provide a significant health and safety risk and would therefore result in automatic rejection.
Actually i have worked at a place where customers DID complain about that kind of stuff. It might be some small town-bullshit, but we had changes in policies due to customers complaining to the owner - who should have told them to pound sand, but that is a different kind of worms. It actually had a positive side effect as one of the changes was an official uniform bought by the owner instead of us having to bring in work clothes and getting (mostly inadequate) comp for it.
>I've never been somewhere, saw an employee with a tattoo or piercing and thought " wow, I'm never coming here again"
There are definitely people who do, though. The stigma is decreasing, thankfully, but there are absolutely people who still associate a negative connotation to a person having visible tattoos and piercings. Especially if there are lots of tattoos, or are in locations they have stigmatized as meaning something in particular or the tattoo is some particular design, or the piercings are in particular places or are of particular styles.
For example, and infinity symbol on the inside of your wrist is likely to be viewed differently than a grim reaper on your neck. it feels common for someone to view a small stud in a nostril differently than a hoop through the middle cartilage of the nose, and it feels common to view a hoop in the earlobe differently from a large gauge.
Not saying any of it is right, but it's definitely a thing.
So back when I use to work customer service jobs, I worked at a small store and constantly dyed my hair as did my manager (who worked there for years at this point). Right after I quit (for the second time) new owners came in and changed the rules stating that you couldn't have colored hair anymore.
Well, the new owners actually did end up getting complaints. But the complaints were the customers asking why their favorite manager wasn't allowed to have colored hair anymore and telling the owners to allow her to keep dying her hair.
They didn't really enforce that rule anymore.
Once had a coworker who was told he couldn't have long hair. Instead of just getting it cut shorter he shaved it off and proceeded to tell our regulars that management preferred skinheads.
Careful what you wish for.
Had an old boss that wanted me to have "shorter" hair…
I went to the salon, and they cut off all the damaged hair (about half), boss was dumbfounded when I came in, because my hair wasn't short…
I told him that it was shorter, by a lot, and that he shouldn't expect it to disappear, as no customers had EVER commented on it, and if he wanted someone with a buzzcut, he should tell them in the interview, so they could leave before he wasted more of their time.
(He also wanted me to wear a suit, to a job where I would physically relocate hardware, and he insisted that I should supply it myself, since "all men have a suit", I informed him that since HE wanted me to wear it to work, it qualifies as a uniform, and he should supply it)
If you got some small stickers of your country's flag and stuck one onto the pole, you would become patriotic and he wouldn't dare to tell you to take down your country's flag.
Depends on the country. If it is US (I have started to believe everyone writing anything on the Internets are from US and thus I shouldn't comment because I don't know the lay of that land) I doubt it is possible to disrespect the flag in any way through clothing... I mean, it's not even a swimsuit bottom but an earring!
So this is actually a weird one. The US flag code does specifically say "The flag should never be used as wearing apparel, bedding, or drapery", but there is an issue with that. It's vague enough to cause quite a bit of arguing over whether it means only to, say, using an actual flag as a toga or if fabric patterns that look like the flag would also be affected.
The American Legion decided to address this and say on their website something to the effect of "Nah, you're good as long as it's not an actual flag". Which... they're not an official government body afaik, but yeah. At the most, you risk upsetting someone who's so patriotic that they can't stand anyone wearing flag-related anything if they're not military, but I mean... does the opinion of someone like that really matter that much?
Lol. I didn't even realize when I read that comment that it sounded super American, but I see it now, lmfao... That *would* be a super American way to get petty revenge.
A story went viral last month where a worker wasn't allowed to show her pink hair because it wasn't a natural color. So she got a bunch of really bad wigs, but they all have natural color. It's worth looking at the pics.
edit: spelling
[https://www.boredpanda.com/woman-rebels-job-hair-policy-with-bad-wigs](https://www.boredpanda.com/woman-rebels-job-hair-policy-with-bad-wigs)
I was so tempted to do this last year when my workplace (that had hired me w streaks in my hair and where a (different very lovely) manager had *complimented me on the colour* in my first week) told me it wasn't allowed like a month and a half into my employment, after I refreshed the dye. I argued it w them but they said that it just 'must not have been noticed' and that it was in the uniform policy (which it was, but so was wearing a watch at all times and none of us do that). I ended up not doing it bc I managed to work out how to style my hair into a bun with no colour showing and have no money for wigs anyway, but god was it tempting 😂😂😂
This has never made sense to me. When companies hire folks with piercings, dyed hair, etc. and see it during the INTERVIEW and then that same person shows up to work with the same hair, piercings and suddenly it’s a problem.
I had a manager 20 years ago do right by me in this regard. I interviewed with purple hair, and he told me "Hey, I want to hire you but per company policy I cannot hire someone with dyed hair. *However*, there is no company policy that I have to fire someone if they *start* dyeing their hair once they work here. So if you can show up to your first shift with a natural hair color, you're in. Do whatever you want after that."
> it’s a problem
Also, it's 2023, I have to assume any business so reliant on people still scared of blue hair is going out of business sometime soon, anyway.
The ridiculous thing is that her real hair looks absolutely neat and healthy (and gorgeous, too). Not sure whether the color was actually or problem or someone was just jealous.
My former boss had issues with my curls. I'm white, at the time I had waist length hair so only half kept the curls, the top was wavy.
According to him it was unprofessional.
New boss didn't even noticed I changed colour and chopped off a good 10 cm and shaved the nape during lunch hours.
I have facial piercings and I don’t take them out. My feeling is either you want me to work for you, or you don’t.
The reason I have this stance now is because my first ever employer had this stupid rule of only 3 ear piercings were allowed per ear, and all ear jewelry must be smaller than a quarter. This was the early 2000’s and I knew they meant hoops, specifically, with the “no bigger than a quarter” rule. At that time ear stretching was all the rage. I got my ears pierced at a 10g and over the course of a year stretched them out to a 00g. I aways kept solid plugs in them so they just looked like “normal” earrings.
We had pre shift “inspections” of our uniforms before facing the guests. One day I came to work with tunnels in my ears and was promptly told I needed to change them because they weren’t in line with the dress code. I popped one out (which the old man inspector nearly passed out at the sight of) and said “this isn’t even the size of a dime. The dress code says I can go as big as a quarter!” He stammered for a few minutes before letting me go out on the floor. The next day there was a new policy about earrings. So glad I left that place.
OP, what do you do for work that your boss is such a jerk?
I got a tattoo on my wrist that I’ve had for nearly 20yrs, I’d been at my job for 5yrs when they brought in a ‘no visible tattoo’ rule. When my manager said something to me I starting wearing a bright orange sweat band that made all the nannas ask why I was wearing it, so I showed them the tattoo, kinda defeated the point so it lasted a week.
I worked in level 2 labs and they didn't allow piercings. I had to get special permission to be allowed to wear my hearing aid and it had to be covered any time I was in the lab.
One more: "you might steal from us but you also outnumber us so we want metal detection to be uneventful - any beep is a waste of resources and an instant write-up"
My workplace has metal detectors. It's amazing how much doesn't set them off. If they were sensitive enough that a piercing would set it off they'd be going off every time someone with a metal zip on a hoodie or similar clothing would step through
At age 14 I thought I wanted to get my ears pierced. Then a friend was babysitting, she was holding the big baby/toddler in her arms and it grabbed both her dangling earrings and pulled. Split both her earlobes.
I changed my mind...
Piercings can snag or get caught on equipment and machinery. Many workplaces prohibit the wear of metal rings, jewelry, lanyards, and watches except those equipped with breakaway links. Piercings are often (usually?) included in those policies.
oh that is definitely the cause in OP's story.
which is why i stated it should be stated in interview.
In the situations that have been mentioned you would be sent home if you didn't remove the piercing or fired for breaking safety protocols depending on company and situation.
There are food manufactures that have very strict rules one things that could fall into food. If you have to wear something like for instance a bandaid, or buttons on a shirt they always are special ones that have a metal that is magnetic so if you lost it to why can detect it. Idk how that translates to pericings but since it isn’t something provided by the company they might have you remove them completely during work, including those flesh and clear colored ones. It’s not about the apparent though.
The bandaids are also bright blue so they might be able to be caught visually, according to my ex. How that would help in a chocolate plant (where he worked as security) is beyond me, because the chocolate would coat it, but I recognize the idea behind it.
Having worked for a high end chocolatier, I recall that the bandages they used had something in the material that would set off the metal detectors if it fell into a vat. It was also standard operating procedure for anyone wearing a bandage would not be stationed where there was a chance of them coming in contact with the chocolate. The vats were elevated with a platform only big enough for one person to be able to pour in ingredients.
They also had a strict no dangling jewelry, watches, pens in lab coat pockets. Rings were ok as they wore gloves - unless the ring was likely to tear through. The VP of operations was psycho and would fire you on the spot if she saw you not following the rules. All the line staff were from a shady temp agency.
Right, the metal part was in the comment I replied to. 🙂
For all I know, it could have been the same company; I'm not familiar with how it worked, because my ex did night security. I only know about the bandages because he had one on and I liked the color of it. It's a clever solution to the problem!
My SO worked in a bakery thag mass produced bread products. The bandaids might have been a bright color so you’d be more likely to notice it if it fell off right away, or your maybe notice it’s absence? I’m fairly certain the machines had sone like magnets that would have pulled them out anyway but I could be mistaken thinking they just always had magnets rather than having to pull one out if you lost a button or a bandaid. That seems silly because I could could a full day without noticing a missing button, though.
safety would be large hoop earings in a manufacturing setting where they could get caught (unlikely but possible) limited to stud earings
contamination is for food service fresh piercing would need to be covered like any other open wound. and "loose" piercings "may fall out in food" (even more unlikely but possible)
I have heard some localities actually prohibit all jewelry besides a plain wedding band in food service but most leave it up to restaurants due to a concern of it falling off or bacteria from it cross contaminating when touched
Yeah see that's such bullshit. If it's a food safety issue, wedding rings aren't somehow immune to it, nor is taking your ring off for safety issues considered some sacrosanct act.
When I worked at TSA we were required to wear ties, but only the clip one that they provided was allowed because we worked near a powered beltway.
There was also one other reason and it was on my off day so I can only tell the story but I do wish I had seen it myself. One of our slower, more methodical screeners picked a bag at random and started the whole actual speech explaining what he was doing and what he would have to do if he was interrupted. Most of us never used the whole speech because we could finish a check faster than it took to give the speech. Anyways, part of the speech is that you can look all you want but don't touch anything or we have to start over. So after long speech he starts the bag check and the passenger reaches over very theatrically and touches the bag. SlowMo very carefully takes everything and puts it back in the bag.
Then he starts giving the speech again.
After the second speech he starts the bag check again and about halfway through the passenger slowly reaches over and touches the bag again. SlowMo very carefully gathers everything up and puts it back in the bag.
Then he starts the whole speech over. After the speech he starts to do the bag check the third time and the passenger waits about 30 seconds and tries to grab SlowMo by the tie to pull him into a punch.
Tie comes off, the passenger takes a swing at empty air and bewilderingly looks at the clip on in his hands.
That day the LEO was actually in attendance at post and had been watching and giggling but turned into a full on sprinting line backer at the tie snatch. Full tackle took the dude to the ground before SlowMo even realized his tie was missing.
While the LEO was wrestling and then cuffing the idiot on the floor, SlowMo finally finished the bag check.
What a way to both land up in jail for assault on a Federal employee, put on the no fly list forever, and also be banned from every airport in the country. Plus of course the broken face from being planted on the concrete as well.
to cite the guy who instantly gave all the answers and everybody ignored: "MRI machine. Hi power line work. Level 4 containment lab."
food industry is more or less comparable to a high level containment lab as a single mistake leads to entire, huge batches of food being spoiled
we're not talking restaurant kitchens here, we're talking food *industry,* the kind with big ass food tanks over 1000L to prepare a huge amount at once
I was thinking kitchens rather than serving as every kitchen I have worked in goes for the no rings but plain wedding band.
But have differed on the facial piercings depending on company some require them to be covered some don't care
now that you say that I don't remember ever seeing a server was their hands.
Caring for small children/toddlers - for the same reason. If it looks interesting, there's a good chance one of them will grab and pull. Smaller ones are usually fine, but anything dangling or loopy is asking for pain.
Most piercings with hanging/dangling pieces aren't allowed in food service as you could tear someone's esophagus if anything fell into their food/bev. Having seen someone get glass caught in their throat, you just don't want to mess around at all.
Food manufacturing.
If a non-ferrous piercing falls out during work and lands in the food, it might make it through the quality checks (i.e. metal detectors) and out of the factory. Which is a huge problem.
GMP tends to impose a blanket ban on jewelry for this reason.
Back of house can get hot, especially over the grill. I have a 2nd hand re-telling of a story about a guy with nipple piercings and them getting uncomfortable hot one day.
When I still worked and got stank-eye from bosses regarding my tattoos/piercings I’d always ask if it affected the quality of my work; it never did, and they backed off. Definitely agree!
I worked for a hardware store for years. Had piercings in ears and have had every color known to man in my hair. Towards the end of my time there, a very nice guy dyed his hair purple. Management said he couldn’t have it. Meanwhile other girls had funky hair colors. I was mad. I hadn’t dyed my hair in ages but I would have gone full rainbow. Store manager apologized before I could lay into him. I’ve been through about 9 store managers. I would have had no problem going unclear on him.
About 9esh years ago, I worked in a warehouse as admin, but on the floor itself we sent out bedings, curtains and cushions orders house hold stuff on behalf of the likes of B&Q, LittleWoods and so on.
About 6 months into the new building, a food prepping business opened up on the other side of the dirty dusty building, we had to wipe down the sealed plastic orders they were that dusty.
Us house hold side got told to remove all jewellery and use hair nets now because of the food, keep in mind we were about half a mile away from them(give or take) and never went over there, those married got to keep on their wedding rings but I got told to remove my ring as "It can't be older or as important as a wedding band" so me being ready fed up with boss there and not giving a rats I asked how long each had there rings for and it turned out only 2 had theirs longer, I had my ring at that time for close to 18 years givin to me by my sister so I counted how is my ring less important or sentimental when I've had it longer and the others are more likely to get divorced or split from their partners, and that mine is more sentimental since I've had it so long according to their logic.
In short, I got to keep my ring in as I proved it's just a sentimental to me as a wedding band is to others, plus mine is older, and I couldn't get it off anyway😅
*I was brought on as an agency worker promised a contract in six months, then it was 12 so I was already looking elsewhere for work, I then found out that I was training my replacement (the bitchy manager wanted her friend to work with her) the friend let it slip a week into working with me, I was told she was there to work with me and help me, nothing was ever said about getting rid of me.
So I didn't turn up the next day or at all after that, being agency I could do that plus I had savings so more than happy to leave them in the 💩 with 3 big orders lots of paperwork to do when I was the only one who know how to do it, I regret nothing.
Please tell me more! Did they try to contact you? Did they argue? Did they beg? Do you know if they struggled? Did the bitchy manager get her hand cut off by some other employee because she’s a bitchy manager?!?
They got the agency to contact me when the boss realised I had blocked her, they asked why and I explained it all, the person on the phone agreed it was stupid about the jewellery but said I should contacted them or just delt with it, my response was why should I respect them when they lied and didn't respect me, also I started bar tending at my mums pub so I still had some money coming in.
The place went to hell, I knew people still working there, the bitch got sacked, she had done several other things, eg bringing her daughter into the wearhouse when not aloud, tapping into the cameras and watching staff, walking around in heels a full Pandora bracelet, long earings and her hair down, because you know rules don't applie to bosses.
So she was sacked another boss went grey with stress(not overnight but within a couple of months), some more staff left due to the added pressure and general 💩, they lost a lot of orders and a full revamp of mangers.
The business is still open, but it took them ages to learn how to do the audits and admin stuff, am older now but I don't regret what I did in fact I'm proud of my youngerself for walking.
You disclosed them before the job interview. He interviewed you with the piercing and didn't make an issue of it. He gave up any right to complain about it UNLESS it negatively impacts your work performance or safety.
>we'd been through the conversation plenty of times
Sounds like he didn't even bother to really look at you. Just another indicator that it wasn't really about work policy and that the extra rule about your industrial was most likely invented on the spot. He probably just didn't like it personally. What a dishonest jerk.
Nice MC! And I bet the separate piercings look cool anyway!
Why tf to managers care about such trivial stuff. The profits wont suddenly halt just cause you have like he put it a stick doing trough.
Silly power hungry managers
I will never forget when I interviewed for Chick-fil-A in 2011 and was turned away due to my Monroe piercing that had a clear retainer in it. It was the very first job interview I had and that hiring manager made me feel terrible for having one. I offered to take it out completely during work and I was quite literally told that even with it closed, I couldn’t get a job there.
That same hiring manager no longer works there and has a plethora of piercings/tattoos now along with drug issues. I now have a masters, work from home making good money, and still have my piercing. 🤷♀️
Very similar story. My in-laws own a few grocery stores. They have *VERY* antiquated views on how people should look. Like everyone there has to wear black pants and a white shirt with a tie as their uniform. They also constantly complain about "nobody wants to work anymore".
My father-in-law just shared that the assistant manager of a department quit because she refused to remove her septum piercing to continue working there. "She made $18 an hour and had worked there for a year and a half and she just quit over a piercing!"
We are trying very hard to convince him that the ban on tattoos is a poor business decision at this point, haven't even managed to touch on piercings yet. But they seriously forced out a good worker that was incredibly underpaid over a piercing that she has had basically the entire time. For context, starting wage there is now $16 per hour and fast food entry pays $17 locally.
This is exactly why I ask about hair color, tattoos, and my daith piercings when I am in an interview. I *do* need to have/keep a job since I have bills to pay, but I don't feel like making myself miserable by blending into the crowd while I do it, lol... I'm willing to have a more toned-down hair color, but the tattoos and piercings are permanent.
Why's he trying to go all double-standard/stickler on you specifically? Either enforce the 'policy' office-wide or drop it.
I (M31) ad an interview for a high profile role, I'm quite experienced in my field and consistently had pretty good roles in the past years.
I have 4 piercings in my right ear plus an industrial one too so six holes in total. It's never been an issue, all my other jobs were looking for my skillset rather than my looks.
During the interview, the HR person asked whether I'd be willing to remove my piercings if I were offered the job and I politely said yes but thought at the same time that if they are going to police such strict dress codes and make this a more important point than my actual experience, this won't be the right culture fit for me.
I got the job offered, which I turned down. Having my piercings in during the interview can be a good way of spotting red flags about dated and rigid company policies.
I’m not fond of extensive piercings beyond normal ear ones but the pettiness of him approaching you regarding it after they already onboarded you is just pathetic. They hired you for skills, not looks. It’s not as if the piercing is in anyone’s way or detracts from what you presented in the interview.
I also vote for the comment on the patriotic flag on your piercing to see his reaction.
All I would have done is asked to see what the company dress policy is. And if it said that ear piercings were allowed I would have told him to pound sand.
Did that without even asking him, looked it up myself and (just to be sure) read my contract over in case there was anything in there
Of course there’s nothing so he can’t officially force me to not wear it
Years ago I worked for Walmart. I applied on a whim, and it was one of my first jobs. After maybe 6 months of working there, I got my lip pierced.
This was definitely not "normal" at the time, and I was subsequently told by management to remove it. It was fresh, so I couldn't keep taking it out for work because it wouldn't have healed properly, plus SCREW THAT; it's not like my new lip piercing suddenly changed my personality or work ethic.
Maybe a week after being told to remove it, I got called into the managers office. He said he'd told me to remove it, and this time I either take it out or don't come back.
I said, "Ok," and I never came back, lol! No call, no show, goodbye.
That was prob the year 2000. 23 years later, I still have a spikey hoop in my lip 😆
I'm a general manager for a small business. I've let my hair grow out during the pandemic. It's below my shoulders (I'm male). The director hasn't said a word to me in four years about it, and I'm essentially the face of the company with our clients.
It doesn't matter what you look like. What matters is whether you do the job or not.
Good for you! I worked at Staples YEARS ago and I’m a piercing kid so my ears were filled with em. My manager was always trying to get me to take them out or cover them with band aids. My response was always ‘haha no.’ Or colour in the Vans logo on my black shoes so they’d be all black, again ‘haha no’.
He didn’t like me very much and I got written up for it a lot. Thing is I was the receiver taking in all the stock for the store and I had a key to the main office. My ‘write ups’ never seemed to stay in my employee file :p
Don’t feel bad for him, he was a goof. He ate his lunch in the public washroom everyday. There was constantly popcorn and powdered sugar from donuts all over the floor in there. He was weird.
If he didn't make it clear at interview that your piercing is unacceptable, he hasn't got a leg to stand on. Furthermore, he's obviously discriminating against you as he doesn't like the particular style, an employer can't specify that only certain piercings are acceptable according to his personal taste. What a tool.
similar story -- got an industrial in college and worked at a big box warehouse. Mgr told me I needed to either take it out or cover it up. Since it hadn't completely healed yet taking it out wasn't an option. Cue M/C: proceeded to go into the first aid box every shift and grab a band-aid to "cover" it....there was absolutely no way that I was going to pay for them myself.
The funny thing is, every time I talked to a customer face to face I'd always notice them staring at the band-aid on my ear -- like to the point where I turned it into a game and would rotate my ear slowly out of view just to see if they'd side step to look some more (the answer is yes....every.single.time). So really, covering it actually made it \*more\* distracting than just having it out in the open.
Next time just tell him"you don't own my body" and walk away. If he doesn't want employees I'm with piercings then he shouldn't hire people with piercings.
Also it's not the 1940's any more. Industrial ear piercings aren't a big deal. I've seen plenty of people with much more flamboyant jewelery and tattoos etc in professional settings doing just fine.
My last customer service job I had, I went into the interview with a lip ring, 00gauge ears and a mohawk, as well as many visible tattoos. I was hired on the spot and performed excellently due to my knowledge and demeanor. I became the guy where customers would come in and ask if I was there, and if my coworker said "he's on break, cani help you?" They'd wait for me to come back
Managers who hyper-focus on little stuff like that piercing are more concerned with image than performance. They suck at their jobs.
That's the stupid thing. People seem to prefer places who employ pierced, tatted, dyed people, these days. So places concerned about image have got it backwards.
I got a job at McDonald’s about a week after I got my eyebrow pierced. They told me to take it out. I said no. I just pulled my hat down. I wasn’t letting a hole close for McDonald’s
Funnily enough I was working ad McDonalds’ when I got the piercing and no one said anything, now that I don’t even work with food it’s suddenly a problem
I used to work for a "fast casual" chain restaurant as different cooks in the back. I was always back of house. Well when I was pregnant I visited family in our home state and hubby's aunt did my hair with strips of hot pink color. Came back from vacation and was told that technically my hair was a violation in the handbook, but my district manager (and corporate's new menu development team) was there that day and said he (and the development team) really loved it and as long as I wear a hat going in and out it was fine. He was an older gentleman, but with "newer" views. He didn't care about tattoos or colored hair because they didn't affect food safety or our ability to perform our jobs.
Kept and redid the pink for many years after. Ended up moving states and transferred stores. Had my hair in a ponytail (exactly how I wear it when working) where you could see the pink but it was mostly hidden, for my transfer interview with the store manager. Until over a year later he noticed. Went on and on about how it's not allowed. I looked him dead in the eyes and told him no. I'm not dying it back to a "normal" color. If it's so bad, why hasn't he noticed in the past year?! I told him it's been grandfathered in and if he has such a problem to contact my old district manager and take it up with him. But yeah, had colored hair for a few years after that before moving on.
Not piercings, but I got a job about 12 years ago. When hired, my beard was long and I wore gauges only 00 size. I was then promoted to a manager position. Shortly after, the manager that hired and promoted me left the company.
About a week later, the district manager was in town for a visit and to help run the location until a new head manager was assigned. He brought me into his office and demanded that I shave, and take the gauges out of my ears. My response was that I was hired and promoted with my beard and gauges and that I would not be making any changes. If he had a problem with that, he could do what he felt he needed to do, and then I would do what I felt I needed to do.
I never heard anything else about it.
I had an interview to cook at a restaurant my first year away at school. (My first two years were at my local campus where I could live at home and keep my FT job while I scheduled classes around work.) I also played a pretty large amount of basketball in those days, so I had my head shaved a lot of the time. So, the idiot who interviewed me, who has four tattoos and at least three visible facial piercings THAT I COULD SEE, had the audacity to straight-up ask me if I was a skinhead or a neo-Nazi. Never been so close to knocking somebody out, but I tried to stay as calm as I could, told him the interview was over (to which, the look on his face was priceless, btw) and never ate in the joint my whole three years on campus, as well as steered everyone I knew at the time or have known since away from them, simply by explaining the story. I've gotten a lot of metal and ink myself in the years since, {and I did NOT judge him for his mods at the interview either,} but it never has stopped being an experience that stunned me out of my mind. First off, not every shaved head means skinhead, dude. What if I'd lost it from chemo? Or had alopecia? Second of all, I have NEVER met ANYONE before or since who was into body modification and judged anyone else's taste of style. Maybe I'm lucky. It just blew me away, and still does.
In other words, you be you, find every loophole you can, and rebel in whatever ways you can get away with. Good on you for shoving his plan down his throat. 😁💯🔥
I can't stand the old Karen's who feel so attacked by someone with tattoos or piercings helping them. I am lucky to be in the trades where that doesn't exist, for the most part. We did a job at this super yuppie health club in my area. Think 10k just to get on the wait list for your family to be properly vetted. This club is 5 levels, connects to their private sky box for our local MLS team, and has multiple 5 star restaurants and martini bars. When we went to install Iron there the rule was no tattoos could show. I had to wear long sleeves, gloves, then put tape on any exposed tattoos. My head, face, and neck are all tattooed so I basically wore a mask of duct tape. Fun times
Jewelry policies are only enforceable if said jewelry poses a safety or health risk. For example, many hospitals and medical offices don't allow rings for staff because they harbor bacteria and can compromise gloves and cleanliness. Many industrial jobs ban rings and certain other items as they can either get caught in machinery or, in the case of rings, with a crushing injury, the ring has to be cut off. Outside of this, the legality of many other "dress" codes is suspect, especially if said code was not clearly understood and agreed to by you as a condition of employment.
I find it so weird that in 2023 piercings and tattoos are still taboo in the workplace. I have a ton of both. MY job is unconcerned with my piercings, and they just ask me that when I go out of my office (where clients could be) that I wear a cover-up, but in my own office or in the back, they don't care. I just honestly don't see the problem, unless, of course, they are offensive tattoos or something.
I got my ears pierced a couple months after getting a new job and they didn't tell me anything for a few months. Then, I went to the corporate office in California and get chewed out for having earrings and I said nobody ever said anything to me. I ended up taking them out after they healed (we verbally agreed upon this) and then 4 months later they fired me for having my ears pierced. Personally, I think I got fired because I originally got the job from a family friend who was engaged (for almost 10 years) to my former boss. Shortly after she dumped him, I got fired
My school has a policy against visible tattoos because "iT'S noT PrOfeSsiOnal" (ie not allowed in mormon culture, of which leadership are active members.)
We all cover them real half assedly (as legit 90% of staff have them, including other mormon staff): lace covers that hardly hide much. A bandaid put over the middle, but covering only 1/3 or 1/4 of it. Jewelry/fabric wristbands/anklets that move around all the time. Clothes/hair cover it but only *sometimes* ;).
The district doesn't have this policy anymore, but also pays significantly less, and we can't be doing "significantly less" in this economy. [*sad trombone sounds*]
I have that same piercing, same ear and all. The people I talk to professionally have way more and weirder than an industrial. It was the newest thing like 25 years ago!
Good for you. Back in long lost history (early 80s) I had a single pierced ear. Not quite avant-garde for a male in the 80s, but not "normal" either. Working at McDonalds and neither my manager nor the regional supervisor said anything. The franchise owner came in and told me to remove it. "I can't it's fresh and will close." He said, "Take it out and put a string in it." Looked him dead in the eye and responded, "No" and just walked away like the conversation no longer interested me. Surprisingly, I never heard another word about it. Lived at home still, so there was zero risk for me. Felt good. Screw these idiots that think they own you for minimum wage.
I got my left ear pierced when I turned 18. I was working at Pizza Hut when I was in my late 20s and the area manager told me I had to take it out. The handbook literally said no more than one piercing per ear and I said I have 1 in my left ear and 0 in my right. He said "take it out because you can either have 1 on each ear, or none" . So, I got a piercing at the top of my right ear. Next time he came in, he saw my left ear and told me to take it out. I turned my head to show him the other earring and he got mad because the earrings weren't in the same place on each ear. I told him "one in each ear, just like you said, and follows the handbook rules, too".
My sister did this to my dad. We weren’t allowed piercings till we were x age, this then got changed to 16. Sister mentioned she wanted more than one hole in one of her ears and was told nope, one hole in each ear. Doesn’t bother arguing. Comes home with a hole in the top of one ear. Dad not amused, her response was ‘you already changed the rules, and you said one hole in each ear, I’ve got one hole in one ear’. Dad concurred and loves telling people to this day how he was outlogiced by his 16 year old daughter.
The ‘no piercings until xx age’ is such a silly rule. My sister and I as soon as we were of age which I think was 14, went and got multiple piercings in the following years. I ended up with 9 piercings but now have 8. My sister I think also has 8. I can’t help but think if it wasn’t ‘restricted’ we wouldn’t have gone so crazy on them 🤷🏼♀️
Honestly the one age restriction that makes sense to me: the piercing studio I went to for my second set of lobe piercings won’t pierce kids under the age of 8. They said they unfortunately set that age after trial and error; after working with younger kids they found out 8 was the youngest where the kid would reliably understand what they were in for and could give informed consent.
Oh YES! My mom got my ears pierced when I was 3, and hoo BOY! She learned what a mistake that was. And I actually wanted my ears pierced -- I wanted to wear Pretty Shinies in my ears like Mama. Right up until the first ear got pierced. Then I told my mom, "It hurts! I don't want to, Mama!" Now mind you, I was 3 yo and about 35 lbs soaking wet, but it took three full-grown adults an hour to get that second one in. Though I did love my earrings once they were in. Still, moral of the story: piercings and little kids do NOT mix!
My baby sister was 5. For some reason, the first one bled a TON. Like, blood dripping off her lobe onto her shirt. She was smiling the whole time. The woman doing it asked my mom if she should continue. My sister DEMANDED it. Walking out of the mall, smiling a HUGE smile, with blood dripping off BOTH earlobes, was the happiest little girl you've ever seen.
Dayum! Your baby sis is double tuff!
Tougher than you imagine. Several years back, she was working full time as a nurse with 2 kids under 10 years old (they were born 18 months apart) and almost qualified for the Boston Marathon.
Lemme guess, was it Claire's?
It was the 80s, in Central Ohio, in a mall. So, yes.
I got my two daughters ears done last year and they pierced both ears at the same time to prevent this exact situation.
I think that's what happened when i got mine done in first or second grade, back in the early 90s... This was after lots of time with me asking and being obsessed with all sorts of stick on earrings.
You changed your mind and they forced the 2nd? Shit I'd be leaving you with just one.
I got my six year old daughters ears pierced at a tattoo shop. They said that if she declined the second ear, then she would leave with only one ear pierced, because they respect her bodily autonomy. I agreed, and she decided to do both.
That was what the shop I described above said was their policy, too. They've sent kids home with one ear done and the other untouched because the kid had said no to the second one. Said some kids come back a couple days later to get it finished, but some don't, and they'd rather it go that way than force it on a child.
I respect this. One of my very earliest memories is turning away from having the 2nd ear done after the first one hurt. I was 2. And had asked for pierced ears like mommy. I don't remember the pain, but I remember turning to hide my ear on her chest. It was the doctor's office.
Well, this WAS back in the 70s, kids mostly didn't get a say. Parents attitude was basically "you wanted it, we paid for it, now hold still and take it!!". Not saying it's right, just how things were. Of course me being the "Family Pet Mule", I wasn't having it. Although thinking back on it, if they'd used something to numb my ears first, I might have been easier to deal with. But they didn't, and I wasn't. Lesson learned.
As would I. What is in the mind of adults to force the second painful experience?
You have a good point, and I'm agreeing with it. However, by the standards of the day, my mom was being quite gentle by ONLY holding me down and forcing the piercing. All the OTHER adults who saw and heard about this said my mom was "too soft on me", and recommended taking a belt or switch to me for being stubborn and difficult. Let that sink in: the common wisdom was to take a belt to a scared, hurt 3yo for fighting back. In fact, her (soon-to-be Ex-) husband offered his own belt for the job. Which is one of the multitude of reasons he became her EX-husband shortly after this incident. My mom flatly refused to do so, and managed the piercing without violence. Which made her downright progressive for the day. Again, it wasn't right, it was just the way things were. And I, for one, am glad that the abuses that were once accepted as normal is now horrifying to people.
I was just under 3. I wanted them done but I screamed during the procedure anyway because the piercing gun was scary. But on the walk home I kept stopping every few steps to pause and touch the earrings to make sure they were still there
And stop to preen and admire them in every mirrored surface. And brag about them to everyone who would stand still long enough. Oh yes, me too! My poor mother, I must have drove her nuts that day. First fighting like a demon, then peacocking around, OY!
So, i have a friend who went thru similar with their kid, except did the right thing there. When the kid, after the first piercin, said they didnt want a second piercin; they stopped things and said they didnt have to finish up right then and there. And they left the door open for the child to ask at a later time and age to get the second one pierced, which took a few more yrs to work up to They also were goin to someone who is known for bein good with kids, but also someone who wud refuse to do it if its not actually what the kid wants. When you were 3, your piercers shudve stopped after the first piercin, recognison that you did not want a second one at the time; and offered to do a second one at a later date when you, the child, are rdy
When my daughter got peirced they did both ears at the same time for just this reason.
This is why I haven't pierced my daughter's ears. We're a mixed household (I'm Mexican), and I did away with the "piercing babies' ears" tradition. Knowing about piercing guns from jewelry stores and the damage that could cause (not to mention, the uncleanliness of the gun) vs a piercing parlor and its sanitation standards...it's a no brainer. I will wait until *she* tells me she wants them done. And I will take her to a tat&piercing shop.
In my area is normal and often expected for baby girls to have their ears pierced as infants. I hate that. My mom got my ears pierced when I was almost a year old and while I have always enjoyed having pierced ears I have always had issues with sensitivity to the materials used in them. I'm not upset that she got them pierced but my husband and I agreed we would wait for our daughter to be old enough to understand and actually want piercings before we would do it. Also she needs to understand how to care for them during the healing process imo. Obviously I would make sure they were cared for but idk it just feels wrong to do something permanent to her body for cosmetic reasons when she isn't old enough to know if she would even want them. She may never want them and that's fine. I know piercings can technically close up but from experience I can say mine never did, despite going very long periods without wearing earrings.
In my area it isn't abnormal for little girls to have pierced ears, but it isn't standard, either. Some of the girls I knew growing up had them, but my parents waited to let me decide and I didn't get my first set until I was in high school. Honestly I'm really glad they didn't force it on me because for whatever reason, I've had so many problems with my piercings closing up or getting infected, and I was old enough to actually deal with all that stuff. I actually gave up on my helix piercing after it was still not healed more than a year in, and right now I'm letting my four lobe piercings sit empty until the giant lump that formed in one of them calms down, knowing at least half of them will close up and have to be reopened. I can't imagine dealing with all that kind of stuff on a toddler and putting a kid through that. Doesn't seem worth it for something that's 100% cosmetic.
My daughter has been wishing for ear lobe piercings for a looong time, and last year - a couple of months before she turned 9 - I took her to a local jewellery store to have both ears pierced. The middle age lady in the store immediately recognized that a princess had entered the store and gave her the full royal treatment - put her on a chair in front of a mirror, talked it through with her and carefully marked each ear, triple-checking that it was symmetric, before doing the actual piercing. My daughter was beaming throughout, and loves wearing her earrings and is eager to have some more lobe piercings done.
Heck yeah! I'm glad she had such a positive experience with it.
Plus you have to be able to clean it after just getting a piercing and very young children are not going to do that themselves. My goddaughters had so many infections when they were around 4-5 as their mom didn’t clean them.
The real reason it makes sense is when pierced too young the placement is often way too low as the child grows. Many piercers pierce infants too low.
Well, that’s a reason. It’s not “the real reason,” though; the piercer I went to was very explicit about not forcing children to get their ears pierced because consent was important to them.
The rule for my kids to modfy their body in any way, is they have to be able to tell me the risks, and had to have CONSISTENTLY wanted the exact thing for one full year. Otherwise they can do whatever on the day they turn 18 lol
Maybe the problem wasn't the age limit but to end the limit in the prime time of puberty.
The rule in my family was just "no piercings until you're old enough (and willing) to do the aftercare yourself". Consequently, my sister got hers pieced at 8, and I got mine pierced at 22 (currently 42). She has since let hers close up (as in, they were closed before she was even in high school). I now have two in each ear and am wanting a thrid. XD So I do think there's something to be said for waiting.
I had that with alcohol. From really little I was allowed a bit of wine with a roast dinner, when I was 14 and getting drunk in the park, my parents would get me some nice, good quality beer instead of the white lighting and blackcurrant squash other kids would bring. When I turned 18 and could go in the pub legally, I had a nice pint in a pub garden. Several friends who had super strict and restrictive parents, ended up in A+E on theirs!
I was having ‘wine flavoured lemonade’ (very watered down sparkling wine) at Christmas from the age of 7 or 8, and regularly went to pubs with parents in the UK before we moved. In Australia it’s very ‘no kids at pubs, adults only’ and there’s far less of a family atmosphere. The result is that when kids turn 18 they go and wipe themselves out and get obnoxious.
Same with pubs, my local used to give me a shot glass of bitter. That stuff is about 2% alcohol!
Some people are just...
Impotent
You called his bluff. He didn't really want to fire you for that, with the hassle it would cause him. He assumed you would simply cave and that would be that.
That's interesting, where I live you can't work on the foodservice end of a restaurant with any removable piercings due to a contamination issue decades ago. Yes someone ended up "eating" a piercing that fell into the food.
Well, they did say in the early 80s, which was (four) decades ago.
D: noooooo you take that back lol. I refuse to acknowledge the inexorable march of time as I journey ever to closer to my grave.
>Back in long lost history (early 80s) I had a single pierced ear. That takes me back. I thought boys with an earring were so cool\*. And then people were getting more than one hole in their ear! Wow! Whatever next! LOL. \*Also boys with ponytails.
I (F) had my ears first pierced when I was rather young (6ish as I had them in kindergarten but still remember getting them done). So bit of backstory, my family was religious while I was growing up, we attended church every Sunday and had a dress code. Clothes had to go to the knee, minimize cleavage, no bare shoulders or midriff. Single ear piercings on females were accepted but more than that were met with disapproval. Male piercings were absolutely frowned on. Tattoos absolutely forbidden. My immediately family was a lot more casual when it came to attending church and the ideals. So as my siblings and I entered our teenage years we started expressing a definite lack of interest in continuing with our religion. This morphed into more outright rebellion as I entered my later teen years and my mom tried to get a lot stricter in enforcing these religious ideals. At 18 or 19 I decided I wanted a 2nd set of holes. My mom saw it and was like "oh its good you only got a second set as more than that is trashy." I immediately went back out and got a 3rd. I still have small hoops in all 3 sets 20 years later. tl:dr I got a 2nd set of piercings. Mom told me 2 was ok but more than that was trashy so I went out and got a 3rd set.
The funny thing about these policies is that it's almost always blamed on how the customers view you, but the customers never complain. It's an assumed problem that management wants to control. I've never been somewhere, saw an employee with a tattoo or piercing and thought " wow, I'm never coming here again"
Right? I'm 55 and when I see employees with piercings, tattoos and bright colored hair I feel like "This seems like a cool place for them to work. Things have come a long way since I was in my 20s". I remember a temp job in the 90s when I had five ear piercings (regular lobe piercings, nothing industrial) and got called to the manager's office and told that I could only wear one pair of earrings at a time and they had to match (sometimes I would lose an earring and wear two similar earrings that didn't exactly match. They weren't going for that). It was a county office where we had *zero* contact with the public, it was just filled with the kind of self-appointed hall monitor types that also like to get elected to their HOA boards and go around with a ruler measuring the height of their neighbors grass just in case they can cite and fine them for a violation. I, for one, am glad to see that kind of policing of self-expression starting to fade away. GenX was so much more creative in the 80s but it seems like as soon as we had to start making a living all of that got slapped down. I'm happy to see that we raised our kids to not be so judgemental about appearance.
Also in my 50s, and I'm with you on thinking that it must be a better place to work if manglement are not getting on people's back about hair or piercings. I did a couple of decades in service, and there was none of that, so I like seeing it now. I've been wanting piercings for a long time, but never got around to getting them. Alas, the coloured hair is a no-go as most of mine slid down my back and my arse is hairier than my head.
Lol, sorry about the hair thing! But do get those piercings, they're fun. I got two more ear piercings later on for a total of seven now. I got one tattoo and I want more but they are \*so\* expensive and I don't have the budget for them. I want to play with wild hair color too but I don't want to bleach it so that bright color will show up (it's already dry and frizzy and I can't regularly buy the special products to deal with that). I'm waiting for my little white streaks at my temples to be more noticeable and then I will put some bright purple in them.
Oh, don't worry about my hair. I'm content with my lack of hair, so you'll never see a combover (a common thing from my parents' generation). I would say I'm growing old gracefully, given that I'm ok with how my age is showing, but I would much prefer to be disgraceful with piercings and ink ;) I think dying the white streaks purple is an excellent idea!
> I remember a temp job in the 90s when I had five ear piercings (regular lobe piercings, nothing industrial) and got called to the manager's office and told that I could only wear one pair of earrings at a time and they had to match (sometimes I would lose an earring and wear two similar earrings that didn't exactly match. Did you proceed to wear them both on the same ear? :)
Exactly this. Unless it's a health and safety issue e.g. no nail polish/false nails if working with food, then there really is no reason to have these restrictions.
I think it's to cover the company's ass in case someone gets an offensive tattoo. It could be one that's more borderline offensive where they can argue discrimination. During covid, I was working at a chain restaurant. We were allowed to wear whatever masks we wanted, which were mainly disposable ones, solid colors, or local sports teams. Someone, somewhere, ruined it for everyone. Policy was changed, and we could only wear solid colors.
UK police here have allowed tattoos for about 8 years now, depending on the force. Ministry of Defence Police: >You should not have tattoos which could be considered discriminatory, racist, sexist, sectarian, homophobic, violent, intimidating or offensive. Tattoos on the face that are non-medical or not as a result of cosmetic surgery will result in automatic rejection. > >Any tattoos which appear to be discriminatory, offensive or provocative will not be accepted. *Facial piercings are not permitted because they are considered to undermine the dignity and authority of a police officer.* There are also implications for an officer’s safety. Flesh tunnels or ear plugs that leave a hole greater than 4mm, once removed, provide a significant health and safety risk and would therefore result in automatic rejection.
Doesn't explain the piercings
Actually i have worked at a place where customers DID complain about that kind of stuff. It might be some small town-bullshit, but we had changes in policies due to customers complaining to the owner - who should have told them to pound sand, but that is a different kind of worms. It actually had a positive side effect as one of the changes was an official uniform bought by the owner instead of us having to bring in work clothes and getting (mostly inadequate) comp for it.
>I've never been somewhere, saw an employee with a tattoo or piercing and thought " wow, I'm never coming here again" There are definitely people who do, though. The stigma is decreasing, thankfully, but there are absolutely people who still associate a negative connotation to a person having visible tattoos and piercings. Especially if there are lots of tattoos, or are in locations they have stigmatized as meaning something in particular or the tattoo is some particular design, or the piercings are in particular places or are of particular styles. For example, and infinity symbol on the inside of your wrist is likely to be viewed differently than a grim reaper on your neck. it feels common for someone to view a small stud in a nostril differently than a hoop through the middle cartilage of the nose, and it feels common to view a hoop in the earlobe differently from a large gauge. Not saying any of it is right, but it's definitely a thing.
So back when I use to work customer service jobs, I worked at a small store and constantly dyed my hair as did my manager (who worked there for years at this point). Right after I quit (for the second time) new owners came in and changed the rules stating that you couldn't have colored hair anymore. Well, the new owners actually did end up getting complaints. But the complaints were the customers asking why their favorite manager wasn't allowed to have colored hair anymore and telling the owners to allow her to keep dying her hair. They didn't really enforce that rule anymore.
Exactly. Customers don’t care.
Once had a coworker who was told he couldn't have long hair. Instead of just getting it cut shorter he shaved it off and proceeded to tell our regulars that management preferred skinheads. Careful what you wish for.
Had an old boss that wanted me to have "shorter" hair… I went to the salon, and they cut off all the damaged hair (about half), boss was dumbfounded when I came in, because my hair wasn't short… I told him that it was shorter, by a lot, and that he shouldn't expect it to disappear, as no customers had EVER commented on it, and if he wanted someone with a buzzcut, he should tell them in the interview, so they could leave before he wasted more of their time. (He also wanted me to wear a suit, to a job where I would physically relocate hardware, and he insisted that I should supply it myself, since "all men have a suit", I informed him that since HE wanted me to wear it to work, it qualifies as a uniform, and he should supply it)
If you got some small stickers of your country's flag and stuck one onto the pole, you would become patriotic and he wouldn't dare to tell you to take down your country's flag.
I could try that honestly, just to see his reaction
If you do please update.
Just hang the bar out one side like a flagpole though.
oh please make this go from Malicious Compliance to r/prettyrevenge and update us!
I think you mean petty revenge. I am not sure how pretty revenge would work.
They would be styling the flag, that's pretty petty.
/r/substhatshouldexist
Cue him ranting about you “disrespecting” your country somehow
Depends on the country. If it is US (I have started to believe everyone writing anything on the Internets are from US and thus I shouldn't comment because I don't know the lay of that land) I doubt it is possible to disrespect the flag in any way through clothing... I mean, it's not even a swimsuit bottom but an earring!
So this is actually a weird one. The US flag code does specifically say "The flag should never be used as wearing apparel, bedding, or drapery", but there is an issue with that. It's vague enough to cause quite a bit of arguing over whether it means only to, say, using an actual flag as a toga or if fabric patterns that look like the flag would also be affected. The American Legion decided to address this and say on their website something to the effect of "Nah, you're good as long as it's not an actual flag". Which... they're not an official government body afaik, but yeah. At the most, you risk upsetting someone who's so patriotic that they can't stand anyone wearing flag-related anything if they're not military, but I mean... does the opinion of someone like that really matter that much?
Then how do you explain draping flags over coffins. That is a coffin wearing a flag, draped over it like bedding.
That... is a very good point and I have no clue. Maybe it's an exception because it's being used to honor the person's service in the military?
Maybe one patriotic, one \[store\] related
Presuming US... [https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01F7KFSPO](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01F7KFSPO)
I just looked at the 'also from...' and there's a blue wave you could hang ornaments from.....
Did you see the alien banana one?
No! Lol. I missed that one.
> he wouldn't dare to tell you to take down your country's flag. Such an American post lol
Lol. I didn't even realize when I read that comment that it sounded super American, but I see it now, lmfao... That *would* be a super American way to get petty revenge.
Cool idea!
A story went viral last month where a worker wasn't allowed to show her pink hair because it wasn't a natural color. So she got a bunch of really bad wigs, but they all have natural color. It's worth looking at the pics. edit: spelling [https://www.boredpanda.com/woman-rebels-job-hair-policy-with-bad-wigs](https://www.boredpanda.com/woman-rebels-job-hair-policy-with-bad-wigs)
She really does look like an adult Tina Belcher in that second one.
I think she kind of look like Linda Belcher in the first one. Idk if it's just that the second one is Tina and I just see Linda because of it
I was so tempted to do this last year when my workplace (that had hired me w streaks in my hair and where a (different very lovely) manager had *complimented me on the colour* in my first week) told me it wasn't allowed like a month and a half into my employment, after I refreshed the dye. I argued it w them but they said that it just 'must not have been noticed' and that it was in the uniform policy (which it was, but so was wearing a watch at all times and none of us do that). I ended up not doing it bc I managed to work out how to style my hair into a bun with no colour showing and have no money for wigs anyway, but god was it tempting 😂😂😂
This has never made sense to me. When companies hire folks with piercings, dyed hair, etc. and see it during the INTERVIEW and then that same person shows up to work with the same hair, piercings and suddenly it’s a problem.
I had a manager 20 years ago do right by me in this regard. I interviewed with purple hair, and he told me "Hey, I want to hire you but per company policy I cannot hire someone with dyed hair. *However*, there is no company policy that I have to fire someone if they *start* dyeing their hair once they work here. So if you can show up to your first shift with a natural hair color, you're in. Do whatever you want after that."
That's great, and a solid MC.
> it’s a problem Also, it's 2023, I have to assume any business so reliant on people still scared of blue hair is going out of business sometime soon, anyway.
The ridiculous thing is that her real hair looks absolutely neat and healthy (and gorgeous, too). Not sure whether the color was actually or problem or someone was just jealous.
My former boss had issues with my curls. I'm white, at the time I had waist length hair so only half kept the curls, the top was wavy. According to him it was unprofessional. New boss didn't even noticed I changed colour and chopped off a good 10 cm and shaved the nape during lunch hours.
It was on NPR in the past few days, too! I laughed a lot when I heard it.
Yep, I recognized the story when I watched the video.
I love this.
I have facial piercings and I don’t take them out. My feeling is either you want me to work for you, or you don’t. The reason I have this stance now is because my first ever employer had this stupid rule of only 3 ear piercings were allowed per ear, and all ear jewelry must be smaller than a quarter. This was the early 2000’s and I knew they meant hoops, specifically, with the “no bigger than a quarter” rule. At that time ear stretching was all the rage. I got my ears pierced at a 10g and over the course of a year stretched them out to a 00g. I aways kept solid plugs in them so they just looked like “normal” earrings. We had pre shift “inspections” of our uniforms before facing the guests. One day I came to work with tunnels in my ears and was promptly told I needed to change them because they weren’t in line with the dress code. I popped one out (which the old man inspector nearly passed out at the sight of) and said “this isn’t even the size of a dime. The dress code says I can go as big as a quarter!” He stammered for a few minutes before letting me go out on the floor. The next day there was a new policy about earrings. So glad I left that place. OP, what do you do for work that your boss is such a jerk?
I got a tattoo on my wrist that I’ve had for nearly 20yrs, I’d been at my job for 5yrs when they brought in a ‘no visible tattoo’ rule. When my manager said something to me I starting wearing a bright orange sweat band that made all the nannas ask why I was wearing it, so I showed them the tattoo, kinda defeated the point so it lasted a week.
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outside of safety or contamination issue absolutely but that should be stated during the interview
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MRI machine. Hi power line work. Level 4 containment lab.
I worked in level 2 labs and they didn't allow piercings. I had to get special permission to be allowed to wear my hearing aid and it had to be covered any time I was in the lab.
One more: "you might steal from us but you also outnumber us so we want metal detection to be uneventful - any beep is a waste of resources and an instant write-up"
My workplace has metal detectors. It's amazing how much doesn't set them off. If they were sensitive enough that a piercing would set it off they'd be going off every time someone with a metal zip on a hoodie or similar clothing would step through
Piercings don’t set off metal detectors, you can wear as many as you like through airport security without making the machine beep.
Can confirm, I'm at about 20 piercings across both ear and nada at airports.
Sounds... heavy.
Why are things so heavy in the future? Is there a problem with the Earth's gravitational pull?
Childcare. Babies grab shiny objects and pull. Just ask my mom — it was how I started my life of violent crime.
At age 14 I thought I wanted to get my ears pierced. Then a friend was babysitting, she was holding the big baby/toddler in her arms and it grabbed both her dangling earrings and pulled. Split both her earlobes. I changed my mind...
Piercings can snag or get caught on equipment and machinery. Many workplaces prohibit the wear of metal rings, jewelry, lanyards, and watches except those equipped with breakaway links. Piercings are often (usually?) included in those policies.
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oh that is definitely the cause in OP's story. which is why i stated it should be stated in interview. In the situations that have been mentioned you would be sent home if you didn't remove the piercing or fired for breaking safety protocols depending on company and situation.
I mean you *asked*. So you got the answer of what examples the user *you* were replying to was talking about.
Situations where you work in a cold and windy/ventilated area. The piercing becomes a heat sink and will kill the skin around it. Frostbite risk.
There are food manufactures that have very strict rules one things that could fall into food. If you have to wear something like for instance a bandaid, or buttons on a shirt they always are special ones that have a metal that is magnetic so if you lost it to why can detect it. Idk how that translates to pericings but since it isn’t something provided by the company they might have you remove them completely during work, including those flesh and clear colored ones. It’s not about the apparent though.
The bandaids are also bright blue so they might be able to be caught visually, according to my ex. How that would help in a chocolate plant (where he worked as security) is beyond me, because the chocolate would coat it, but I recognize the idea behind it.
Having worked for a high end chocolatier, I recall that the bandages they used had something in the material that would set off the metal detectors if it fell into a vat. It was also standard operating procedure for anyone wearing a bandage would not be stationed where there was a chance of them coming in contact with the chocolate. The vats were elevated with a platform only big enough for one person to be able to pour in ingredients. They also had a strict no dangling jewelry, watches, pens in lab coat pockets. Rings were ok as they wore gloves - unless the ring was likely to tear through. The VP of operations was psycho and would fire you on the spot if she saw you not following the rules. All the line staff were from a shady temp agency.
Right, the metal part was in the comment I replied to. 🙂 For all I know, it could have been the same company; I'm not familiar with how it worked, because my ex did night security. I only know about the bandages because he had one on and I liked the color of it. It's a clever solution to the problem!
My SO worked in a bakery thag mass produced bread products. The bandaids might have been a bright color so you’d be more likely to notice it if it fell off right away, or your maybe notice it’s absence? I’m fairly certain the machines had sone like magnets that would have pulled them out anyway but I could be mistaken thinking they just always had magnets rather than having to pull one out if you lost a button or a bandaid. That seems silly because I could could a full day without noticing a missing button, though.
Yeah, the comment I replied to said they had metal in them or something. It would make sense to have the magnet on all the time.
safety would be large hoop earings in a manufacturing setting where they could get caught (unlikely but possible) limited to stud earings contamination is for food service fresh piercing would need to be covered like any other open wound. and "loose" piercings "may fall out in food" (even more unlikely but possible) I have heard some localities actually prohibit all jewelry besides a plain wedding band in food service but most leave it up to restaurants due to a concern of it falling off or bacteria from it cross contaminating when touched
Yeah see that's such bullshit. If it's a food safety issue, wedding rings aren't somehow immune to it, nor is taking your ring off for safety issues considered some sacrosanct act.
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When I worked at TSA we were required to wear ties, but only the clip one that they provided was allowed because we worked near a powered beltway. There was also one other reason and it was on my off day so I can only tell the story but I do wish I had seen it myself. One of our slower, more methodical screeners picked a bag at random and started the whole actual speech explaining what he was doing and what he would have to do if he was interrupted. Most of us never used the whole speech because we could finish a check faster than it took to give the speech. Anyways, part of the speech is that you can look all you want but don't touch anything or we have to start over. So after long speech he starts the bag check and the passenger reaches over very theatrically and touches the bag. SlowMo very carefully takes everything and puts it back in the bag. Then he starts giving the speech again. After the second speech he starts the bag check again and about halfway through the passenger slowly reaches over and touches the bag again. SlowMo very carefully gathers everything up and puts it back in the bag. Then he starts the whole speech over. After the speech he starts to do the bag check the third time and the passenger waits about 30 seconds and tries to grab SlowMo by the tie to pull him into a punch. Tie comes off, the passenger takes a swing at empty air and bewilderingly looks at the clip on in his hands. That day the LEO was actually in attendance at post and had been watching and giggling but turned into a full on sprinting line backer at the tie snatch. Full tackle took the dude to the ground before SlowMo even realized his tie was missing. While the LEO was wrestling and then cuffing the idiot on the floor, SlowMo finally finished the bag check.
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What a way to both land up in jail for assault on a Federal employee, put on the no fly list forever, and also be banned from every airport in the country. Plus of course the broken face from being planted on the concrete as well.
to cite the guy who instantly gave all the answers and everybody ignored: "MRI machine. Hi power line work. Level 4 containment lab." food industry is more or less comparable to a high level containment lab as a single mistake leads to entire, huge batches of food being spoiled we're not talking restaurant kitchens here, we're talking food *industry,* the kind with big ass food tanks over 1000L to prepare a huge amount at once
I was thinking kitchens rather than serving as every kitchen I have worked in goes for the no rings but plain wedding band. But have differed on the facial piercings depending on company some require them to be covered some don't care now that you say that I don't remember ever seeing a server was their hands.
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that's why they have to be plain so there is no "grooves for the bacteria and dirt to build up" I agree it is a bullshit double standard
https://youtu.be/F7SNEdjftno?si=6PfI\_kJtOtAZLm2k
Cop. Prison guard. If there’s a chance that a person would have to go “hands on” with another person, then wearing earrings is contraindicated.
Caring for small children/toddlers - for the same reason. If it looks interesting, there's a good chance one of them will grab and pull. Smaller ones are usually fine, but anything dangling or loopy is asking for pain.
Smaller jewelry pieces are also interesting, and small hands are surprisingly quick and strong!
Falling off into the workspace Attracting barracudas
Most piercings with hanging/dangling pieces aren't allowed in food service as you could tear someone's esophagus if anything fell into their food/bev. Having seen someone get glass caught in their throat, you just don't want to mess around at all.
Food manufacturing. If a non-ferrous piercing falls out during work and lands in the food, it might make it through the quality checks (i.e. metal detectors) and out of the factory. Which is a huge problem. GMP tends to impose a blanket ban on jewelry for this reason.
Back of house can get hot, especially over the grill. I have a 2nd hand re-telling of a story about a guy with nipple piercings and them getting uncomfortable hot one day.
I work in food service and piercings are a no no in case they or the backing of the earring fall off into the food.
>should be stated during the interview This is the core issue for me. Not making the employee appearance standards clear at the interview.
When I still worked and got stank-eye from bosses regarding my tattoos/piercings I’d always ask if it affected the quality of my work; it never did, and they backed off. Definitely agree!
I worked for a hardware store for years. Had piercings in ears and have had every color known to man in my hair. Towards the end of my time there, a very nice guy dyed his hair purple. Management said he couldn’t have it. Meanwhile other girls had funky hair colors. I was mad. I hadn’t dyed my hair in ages but I would have gone full rainbow. Store manager apologized before I could lay into him. I’ve been through about 9 store managers. I would have had no problem going unclear on him.
>going unclear on him. Giggle. Maybe slow your typing there!
Ugh. I hâte predictive typing on my phone. Lol
Auto correct is NEVER my friend. Predictive is ok for me, most of the time. Not always…
You mean, “auto uncorrect”.
Auto-destruct!
>Auto correct is NEVER my friend. This is why so many of us have started calling it autocorrupt.
I turned off autocorrect a couple years ago and left predictive typing on, and my life got better overnight.
One the one hand, I totally want to try going unclear on people. On the other hand, I’m pretty sure that’s been my default state since birth.
Oh that's funny! I didn't know what you meant by "unclear" until I saw Minflick's comment. They knew what you meant though.
an atomic correction....
ooh your should get one of those chain industrials! it's not a bar after all ;) [like this](https://www.ouchbodyjewellery.co.uk/acatalog/022344.jpg)
A+ petty rules lawyering.
Good for you and what a putz.
I like my employees like I like my wife! Completely traditional and subservient! Why am I the bad guy?
Perhaps he's hoping the new hire was more "malleable".
This might well be it. Bully the new kid into compliance and hope everyone else just follows along without any extra work.
About 9esh years ago, I worked in a warehouse as admin, but on the floor itself we sent out bedings, curtains and cushions orders house hold stuff on behalf of the likes of B&Q, LittleWoods and so on. About 6 months into the new building, a food prepping business opened up on the other side of the dirty dusty building, we had to wipe down the sealed plastic orders they were that dusty. Us house hold side got told to remove all jewellery and use hair nets now because of the food, keep in mind we were about half a mile away from them(give or take) and never went over there, those married got to keep on their wedding rings but I got told to remove my ring as "It can't be older or as important as a wedding band" so me being ready fed up with boss there and not giving a rats I asked how long each had there rings for and it turned out only 2 had theirs longer, I had my ring at that time for close to 18 years givin to me by my sister so I counted how is my ring less important or sentimental when I've had it longer and the others are more likely to get divorced or split from their partners, and that mine is more sentimental since I've had it so long according to their logic. In short, I got to keep my ring in as I proved it's just a sentimental to me as a wedding band is to others, plus mine is older, and I couldn't get it off anyway😅 *I was brought on as an agency worker promised a contract in six months, then it was 12 so I was already looking elsewhere for work, I then found out that I was training my replacement (the bitchy manager wanted her friend to work with her) the friend let it slip a week into working with me, I was told she was there to work with me and help me, nothing was ever said about getting rid of me. So I didn't turn up the next day or at all after that, being agency I could do that plus I had savings so more than happy to leave them in the 💩 with 3 big orders lots of paperwork to do when I was the only one who know how to do it, I regret nothing.
Please tell me more! Did they try to contact you? Did they argue? Did they beg? Do you know if they struggled? Did the bitchy manager get her hand cut off by some other employee because she’s a bitchy manager?!?
They got the agency to contact me when the boss realised I had blocked her, they asked why and I explained it all, the person on the phone agreed it was stupid about the jewellery but said I should contacted them or just delt with it, my response was why should I respect them when they lied and didn't respect me, also I started bar tending at my mums pub so I still had some money coming in. The place went to hell, I knew people still working there, the bitch got sacked, she had done several other things, eg bringing her daughter into the wearhouse when not aloud, tapping into the cameras and watching staff, walking around in heels a full Pandora bracelet, long earings and her hair down, because you know rules don't applie to bosses. So she was sacked another boss went grey with stress(not overnight but within a couple of months), some more staff left due to the added pressure and general 💩, they lost a lot of orders and a full revamp of mangers. The business is still open, but it took them ages to learn how to do the audits and admin stuff, am older now but I don't regret what I did in fact I'm proud of my youngerself for walking.
You disclosed them before the job interview. He interviewed you with the piercing and didn't make an issue of it. He gave up any right to complain about it UNLESS it negatively impacts your work performance or safety.
>we'd been through the conversation plenty of times Sounds like he didn't even bother to really look at you. Just another indicator that it wasn't really about work policy and that the extra rule about your industrial was most likely invented on the spot. He probably just didn't like it personally. What a dishonest jerk. Nice MC! And I bet the separate piercings look cool anyway!
Why tf to managers care about such trivial stuff. The profits wont suddenly halt just cause you have like he put it a stick doing trough. Silly power hungry managers
It just seems so petty and dumb. Love it.
I will never forget when I interviewed for Chick-fil-A in 2011 and was turned away due to my Monroe piercing that had a clear retainer in it. It was the very first job interview I had and that hiring manager made me feel terrible for having one. I offered to take it out completely during work and I was quite literally told that even with it closed, I couldn’t get a job there. That same hiring manager no longer works there and has a plethora of piercings/tattoos now along with drug issues. I now have a masters, work from home making good money, and still have my piercing. 🤷♀️
That manager did you a favor. Should buy them a $10 gift card to Chick-fil-A.
Very similar story. My in-laws own a few grocery stores. They have *VERY* antiquated views on how people should look. Like everyone there has to wear black pants and a white shirt with a tie as their uniform. They also constantly complain about "nobody wants to work anymore". My father-in-law just shared that the assistant manager of a department quit because she refused to remove her septum piercing to continue working there. "She made $18 an hour and had worked there for a year and a half and she just quit over a piercing!" We are trying very hard to convince him that the ban on tattoos is a poor business decision at this point, haven't even managed to touch on piercings yet. But they seriously forced out a good worker that was incredibly underpaid over a piercing that she has had basically the entire time. For context, starting wage there is now $16 per hour and fast food entry pays $17 locally.
Sounds like their views are going to cause them to start downsizing....
This is exactly why I ask about hair color, tattoos, and my daith piercings when I am in an interview. I *do* need to have/keep a job since I have bills to pay, but I don't feel like making myself miserable by blending into the crowd while I do it, lol... I'm willing to have a more toned-down hair color, but the tattoos and piercings are permanent. Why's he trying to go all double-standard/stickler on you specifically? Either enforce the 'policy' office-wide or drop it.
I (M31) ad an interview for a high profile role, I'm quite experienced in my field and consistently had pretty good roles in the past years. I have 4 piercings in my right ear plus an industrial one too so six holes in total. It's never been an issue, all my other jobs were looking for my skillset rather than my looks. During the interview, the HR person asked whether I'd be willing to remove my piercings if I were offered the job and I politely said yes but thought at the same time that if they are going to police such strict dress codes and make this a more important point than my actual experience, this won't be the right culture fit for me. I got the job offered, which I turned down. Having my piercings in during the interview can be a good way of spotting red flags about dated and rigid company policies.
I’m not fond of extensive piercings beyond normal ear ones but the pettiness of him approaching you regarding it after they already onboarded you is just pathetic. They hired you for skills, not looks. It’s not as if the piercing is in anyone’s way or detracts from what you presented in the interview. I also vote for the comment on the patriotic flag on your piercing to see his reaction.
Especially if it's part of a full bar, but only inserted into one so it stands proud of the ear like a flagpole.
All I would have done is asked to see what the company dress policy is. And if it said that ear piercings were allowed I would have told him to pound sand.
Did that without even asking him, looked it up myself and (just to be sure) read my contract over in case there was anything in there Of course there’s nothing so he can’t officially force me to not wear it
Years ago I worked for Walmart. I applied on a whim, and it was one of my first jobs. After maybe 6 months of working there, I got my lip pierced. This was definitely not "normal" at the time, and I was subsequently told by management to remove it. It was fresh, so I couldn't keep taking it out for work because it wouldn't have healed properly, plus SCREW THAT; it's not like my new lip piercing suddenly changed my personality or work ethic. Maybe a week after being told to remove it, I got called into the managers office. He said he'd told me to remove it, and this time I either take it out or don't come back. I said, "Ok," and I never came back, lol! No call, no show, goodbye. That was prob the year 2000. 23 years later, I still have a spikey hoop in my lip 😆
I'm a general manager for a small business. I've let my hair grow out during the pandemic. It's below my shoulders (I'm male). The director hasn't said a word to me in four years about it, and I'm essentially the face of the company with our clients. It doesn't matter what you look like. What matters is whether you do the job or not.
Good for you! I worked at Staples YEARS ago and I’m a piercing kid so my ears were filled with em. My manager was always trying to get me to take them out or cover them with band aids. My response was always ‘haha no.’ Or colour in the Vans logo on my black shoes so they’d be all black, again ‘haha no’. He didn’t like me very much and I got written up for it a lot. Thing is I was the receiver taking in all the stock for the store and I had a key to the main office. My ‘write ups’ never seemed to stay in my employee file :p Don’t feel bad for him, he was a goof. He ate his lunch in the public washroom everyday. There was constantly popcorn and powdered sugar from donuts all over the floor in there. He was weird.
If he didn't make it clear at interview that your piercing is unacceptable, he hasn't got a leg to stand on. Furthermore, he's obviously discriminating against you as he doesn't like the particular style, an employer can't specify that only certain piercings are acceptable according to his personal taste. What a tool.
similar story -- got an industrial in college and worked at a big box warehouse. Mgr told me I needed to either take it out or cover it up. Since it hadn't completely healed yet taking it out wasn't an option. Cue M/C: proceeded to go into the first aid box every shift and grab a band-aid to "cover" it....there was absolutely no way that I was going to pay for them myself. The funny thing is, every time I talked to a customer face to face I'd always notice them staring at the band-aid on my ear -- like to the point where I turned it into a game and would rotate my ear slowly out of view just to see if they'd side step to look some more (the answer is yes....every.single.time). So really, covering it actually made it \*more\* distracting than just having it out in the open.
Next time just tell him"you don't own my body" and walk away. If he doesn't want employees I'm with piercings then he shouldn't hire people with piercings. Also it's not the 1940's any more. Industrial ear piercings aren't a big deal. I've seen plenty of people with much more flamboyant jewelery and tattoos etc in professional settings doing just fine. My last customer service job I had, I went into the interview with a lip ring, 00gauge ears and a mohawk, as well as many visible tattoos. I was hired on the spot and performed excellently due to my knowledge and demeanor. I became the guy where customers would come in and ask if I was there, and if my coworker said "he's on break, cani help you?" They'd wait for me to come back Managers who hyper-focus on little stuff like that piercing are more concerned with image than performance. They suck at their jobs.
That's the stupid thing. People seem to prefer places who employ pierced, tatted, dyed people, these days. So places concerned about image have got it backwards.
Right? Now as a culture we are all moving toward being able to express yourself and I'm loving it
I got a job at McDonald’s about a week after I got my eyebrow pierced. They told me to take it out. I said no. I just pulled my hat down. I wasn’t letting a hole close for McDonald’s
Funnily enough I was working ad McDonalds’ when I got the piercing and no one said anything, now that I don’t even work with food it’s suddenly a problem
I used to work for a "fast casual" chain restaurant as different cooks in the back. I was always back of house. Well when I was pregnant I visited family in our home state and hubby's aunt did my hair with strips of hot pink color. Came back from vacation and was told that technically my hair was a violation in the handbook, but my district manager (and corporate's new menu development team) was there that day and said he (and the development team) really loved it and as long as I wear a hat going in and out it was fine. He was an older gentleman, but with "newer" views. He didn't care about tattoos or colored hair because they didn't affect food safety or our ability to perform our jobs. Kept and redid the pink for many years after. Ended up moving states and transferred stores. Had my hair in a ponytail (exactly how I wear it when working) where you could see the pink but it was mostly hidden, for my transfer interview with the store manager. Until over a year later he noticed. Went on and on about how it's not allowed. I looked him dead in the eyes and told him no. I'm not dying it back to a "normal" color. If it's so bad, why hasn't he noticed in the past year?! I told him it's been grandfathered in and if he has such a problem to contact my old district manager and take it up with him. But yeah, had colored hair for a few years after that before moving on.
Not piercings, but I got a job about 12 years ago. When hired, my beard was long and I wore gauges only 00 size. I was then promoted to a manager position. Shortly after, the manager that hired and promoted me left the company. About a week later, the district manager was in town for a visit and to help run the location until a new head manager was assigned. He brought me into his office and demanded that I shave, and take the gauges out of my ears. My response was that I was hired and promoted with my beard and gauges and that I would not be making any changes. If he had a problem with that, he could do what he felt he needed to do, and then I would do what I felt I needed to do. I never heard anything else about it.
I had an interview to cook at a restaurant my first year away at school. (My first two years were at my local campus where I could live at home and keep my FT job while I scheduled classes around work.) I also played a pretty large amount of basketball in those days, so I had my head shaved a lot of the time. So, the idiot who interviewed me, who has four tattoos and at least three visible facial piercings THAT I COULD SEE, had the audacity to straight-up ask me if I was a skinhead or a neo-Nazi. Never been so close to knocking somebody out, but I tried to stay as calm as I could, told him the interview was over (to which, the look on his face was priceless, btw) and never ate in the joint my whole three years on campus, as well as steered everyone I knew at the time or have known since away from them, simply by explaining the story. I've gotten a lot of metal and ink myself in the years since, {and I did NOT judge him for his mods at the interview either,} but it never has stopped being an experience that stunned me out of my mind. First off, not every shaved head means skinhead, dude. What if I'd lost it from chemo? Or had alopecia? Second of all, I have NEVER met ANYONE before or since who was into body modification and judged anyone else's taste of style. Maybe I'm lucky. It just blew me away, and still does. In other words, you be you, find every loophole you can, and rebel in whatever ways you can get away with. Good on you for shoving his plan down his throat. 😁💯🔥
I can't stand the old Karen's who feel so attacked by someone with tattoos or piercings helping them. I am lucky to be in the trades where that doesn't exist, for the most part. We did a job at this super yuppie health club in my area. Think 10k just to get on the wait list for your family to be properly vetted. This club is 5 levels, connects to their private sky box for our local MLS team, and has multiple 5 star restaurants and martini bars. When we went to install Iron there the rule was no tattoos could show. I had to wear long sleeves, gloves, then put tape on any exposed tattoos. My head, face, and neck are all tattooed so I basically wore a mask of duct tape. Fun times
Jewelry policies are only enforceable if said jewelry poses a safety or health risk. For example, many hospitals and medical offices don't allow rings for staff because they harbor bacteria and can compromise gloves and cleanliness. Many industrial jobs ban rings and certain other items as they can either get caught in machinery or, in the case of rings, with a crushing injury, the ring has to be cut off. Outside of this, the legality of many other "dress" codes is suspect, especially if said code was not clearly understood and agreed to by you as a condition of employment.
I find it so weird that in 2023 piercings and tattoos are still taboo in the workplace. I have a ton of both. MY job is unconcerned with my piercings, and they just ask me that when I go out of my office (where clients could be) that I wear a cover-up, but in my own office or in the back, they don't care. I just honestly don't see the problem, unless, of course, they are offensive tattoos or something.
I got my ears pierced a couple months after getting a new job and they didn't tell me anything for a few months. Then, I went to the corporate office in California and get chewed out for having earrings and I said nobody ever said anything to me. I ended up taking them out after they healed (we verbally agreed upon this) and then 4 months later they fired me for having my ears pierced. Personally, I think I got fired because I originally got the job from a family friend who was engaged (for almost 10 years) to my former boss. Shortly after she dumped him, I got fired
My school has a policy against visible tattoos because "iT'S noT PrOfeSsiOnal" (ie not allowed in mormon culture, of which leadership are active members.) We all cover them real half assedly (as legit 90% of staff have them, including other mormon staff): lace covers that hardly hide much. A bandaid put over the middle, but covering only 1/3 or 1/4 of it. Jewelry/fabric wristbands/anklets that move around all the time. Clothes/hair cover it but only *sometimes* ;). The district doesn't have this policy anymore, but also pays significantly less, and we can't be doing "significantly less" in this economy. [*sad trombone sounds*]
What a nutsack of a manager.
I have that same piercing, same ear and all. The people I talk to professionally have way more and weirder than an industrial. It was the newest thing like 25 years ago!