Tattoos. Let that word sink in. With that one word alone, everyone will probably have a different picture that comes to mind. Person A, for example, may see lots of profanity that someone was dumb enough to have permanently etched into his/her skin. He/she isn’t really a fan of tattoos and don’t understand why people would do such things to themselves. Whether it’s the concept of the tattoos themselves or the procedure, they hate it either way. Person B sees body art. They may live by the philosophy: If my body is my temple, why not decorate its walls. They’re more open-minded about the general concept and don’t really judge others for having them. Person C thinks they’re cool but wouldn’t personally get any. That’s fine too. Person D may be strictly indifferent. Tattoos are just there and they’re not going away anytime soon. See all the different perspectives we can have? With my next question, all those perspectives can shorten into 2 perhaps 3 solid viewpoints. Ready?

Should tattoos be allowed in the workplace? Want me to clarify? I will. I’m asking should tattoos be seen let alone allowed in the workplace? Say two people applied for the same job. They’re both white, male, and of 30 years old. Here’s the catch: one has tattoos sleeves on his arms but he’s much more qualified than the man that doesn’t have tattoos. Guess which one gets the job? You guessed it (hopefully). It’s the guy with no tattoos. How does this happen? You’re saying that the man without the ink got the job just for that — that he doesn’t have any? Well, that’s society.

We live in a world where body art gets judged critically. Let me justify that not all jobs and professions are like that. Not at all. Casual job locations like restaurants and retail stores (some of them) may be ok with the fact that the interviewee has tattoos. They may hire them and even allow the art to be shown. Other times the ink will have to stay covered — especially if the tattoo has profanity or if an image is overly graphic. “Just cover it up, and get to work.” Depending on the business, tattoos can be seen as professional and makes the workers seem more credible. Yes, I’m talking about tattoo parlors. The point is, yes, there are careers where body art can be allowed, but not all of them are. Did you notice how I only pointed out minimum wage jobs? That’s because careers being a doctor, a lawyer or a president of a prestigious company would probably have stricter dress codes regarding this issue.

Being picky about whether or not a person has tattoos or even body piercings can even come down to life-threatening situations. That’s right. An elderly woman needs a heart surgery. This surgery is the only way she can live when she walks out of the hospital again. There’s one woman who has been doing surgeries for most of her time as a medical worker. She has tattoos that can be visible just above the wrists of her lab coat. The elderly woman initially didn’t see this when the surgeon walked in, but when the medical worker lifted her arms the tattoos can be seen. Now the elderly woman doesn’t want this woman doing the procedure and requests for another surgeon. In walks, surgeon number two, another woman. She hasn’t had as much experience as the first surgeon, and is still early in her training, but she’s the last they’ve got. The elderly woman asks the second surgeon, “Do you have tattoos?” The surgeon would say, “No, ma’am.” The patient decides to go with the surgeon number two. Do you know what just happened here? The old woman just signed on for her death. Not by not getting the surgery done, but by not allowing the right woman to do the procedure. See how messed up this is. Humans call themselves the “top of the food chain”, but would such wonderful beings make such a rash and reckless mistake? Supreme beings, my butt.

The two or perhaps three viewpoints boil down to these: pro-tattoos in the workplace, anti- tattoos in the workplace, people are indifferent to the issue entirely and wants me to finish this article. The pro-body art, I applaud you. You have no hard feelings towards this subject but read my rant anyway. The ones anti-tattoos, read on. The ones indifferent… well, I’m indifferent to your indifference. Wait, no I’m not. Continue reading.

What can be taken from this? I don’t know about you, but if my life were on the line, I wouldn’t choose the surgeon that just came in on the job and hardly has seen the gruesome tasks that other experienced workers have done. In layman’s terms: Who cares if an employee has tattoos? That’s my point. This is just straight-up ignorance! Who cares if they have any tattoos as long as they do the tasks accurately? The facts that they ink is there isn’t going to affect their performance or their work ethic. We have to let their skills speak for themselves. What can businesses do about this issue now? Just what I just said: Let the employee’s skill do the talking.

When people say what does America has that other countries don’t, we always say, “equal opportunity for all.” That’s great and everything, but it would be more great if we actually went through on it. Not allowing a person a position they’re qualified for just because they have body art are denying opportunity to work when they clearly want to. This isn’t what America stands for. Dear reader(s), hear (or read) me good and well when I say, “Don’t judge someone based on what they have on their skin. What they have on their skin doesn’t affect you in any way, shape, or form. See what person thinks or feels on various views before deciding you don’t like that person.