We hear the whispers. We see the stares. Some of us, such as myself, are bold enough to stare back. I’ll even give you a nice, friendly smile. Just know that smile is laced with annoyance. Who is this “we” I’m referring to? I’m talking about those of us who walk around with colored hair, tattoos, and piercings. The “alternative” crowd, if we must put a label on it.

I’m from a very small, rural town in central Pennsylvania, one of the most conservative states out there. It was only a very short two years ago that I shaved the side of my head and dyed my hair blue. You can imagine what happened when I came home from college for the first time after changing my hair. The judgement was real.

I couldn’t go anywhere in public without people blatantly staring at me. Parent’s took one look at me and dragged their children away from me (I’m not kidding, this did happen multiple times). And of course there was some judgement within my own family. My initial response? To duck my head and run away. But soon I had enough and became angry and annoyed. Why should something such as dying my hair to an unnatural color and shaving the side of my head completely change people’s opinions of me?

The question I get constantly is, "How will you ever find a job?" Now, if one takes a look at my resume, it’s a pretty pristine resume with titles such as Class President, Resident Assistant, and Director of Entertainment for my college’s Campus Activities Board sitting on it. I have held so many leadership positions that most companies would jump at the chance to have me as an employee. But most of those companies would then quickly turn me down once they saw what I actually looked like. Those that would see me before looking at my resume would simply throw it away without even giving it a glance. And that, my friends, is a problem.

It’s a problem that our society still relies heavily on stereotypes to form opinions on professional ability. So what if my hair is blue instead of brown? It’s just a color. So what if the side of my head is shaved? I just have less hair on my head. The same goes with tattoos and piercings. These things are inanimate objects that some people like to put on/in themselves. They’re ink and pieces of metal and are irrelevant when it comes to someone’s ability to perform a job. They have nothing to do with someone’s personality.

There are groups such as STAPAW (Support Tattoos and Piercings at Work) working to raise awareness of discrimination against alternative styles in the workplace, but it's a slow process. Until then, I will continue smiling, holding doors, and being super polite to everyone I come across. I will make you question all of the assumptions you made about me within the first five seconds of seeing me. Because surely someone that looks like me couldn’t actually be a decent human being

Want to learn more about STAPAW and maybe get involved? Go to this link for more information: http://www.stapaw.com/