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[MazeHaze]

Man, sure are a lot of hateful, ignorant, high horse riding people in this thread.


My first tattoo is a wedding band I got a couple weeks after my fiancee passed away. You know how I'm gonna feel about it when I'm 80? Thankful that I had a constant reminder of her life and the impact it made on mine.

 

[Etrian Oddity]

I can understand old-world thinkers. I have a tattoo and I support one's freedom of getting their tattoos; but in general, I have a personal dislike for tattoos that can't be concealed when you're wearing business attire. AKA face, hand, neck. Also I think tattoos on the feet look tacky but again that's none of my goddamn business what someone puts on their body.

::edit:: Something like MazeHaze is so discreet I'd think it'd be pretty cool

 

[Piccoro]

So what I learned from this thread is that one person can be the most qualified worker in the world, but as soon as he paints his skin, his skills automatically vanish.

"It's unprofessional!"

Spoiler

Lol

 

[tonysidaway]

EVERYONE here has a tattoo of some kind.

Does EVERYONE in Toronto also exaggerate wildly?

 

[How About No]

I've never wanted a tattoo, but now I'm wondering how a colorful diamond grid wrapped around my arm would look

Dammit thread

 

[Fenderputty]

You highly doubt that my friends with tattoos did their research and carefully considered those choices beforehand? Interesting, considering I probably spend more time with them than you do.

It's statistics. I don't need to know your friends to know people are removing their well thought out ink choices in growing numbers. If your friends don't remove them, they're your anecdotal reference at best.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/tattoo-removal-surges-440-over-the-last-decade-2014-07-15

 

[Etrian Oddity]

So what I learned from this thread is that one person can be the most qualified worker in the world, but as soon as he paints his skin, his skills automatically vanish.

"It's unprofessional!"

Spoiler

Lol

Like it or not, humans are visual animals. Even crossing over in the "work dress code" example, there are weird studies that correlate perception of one's professional attire/appearances to superior competence and performance, justly or not. Social constructs obviously apply, but it is what it is.

 

[eagledare]

It's statistics. I don't need to know your friends to know people are removing their well thought out ink choices in growing numbers.

When you quoted me a was making a statement about people I know personally. Reading comprehension fail?

 

[Morrigan Stark]

Man, sure are a lot of hateful, ignorant, high horse riding people in this thread.

Hopefully not a lot, definitely one or two though.

My first tattoo is a wedding band I got a couple weeks after my fiancee passed away. You know how I'm gonna feel about it when I'm 80? Thankful that I had a constant reminder of her life and the impact it made on mine.

But dude, tattoos are permanent! Don't you realize that? What if you marry another woman some day and your new wife resents your old tattoo (nevermind that you probably wouldn't want to marry someone so petty, shh)? What if <insane thing no one could possibly care about>??? Why do you disfigure your fingers so, don't you see this shows your bad judgement and you are therefore unfit to do any kind of serious work?

Spoiler

/s

It's statistics. I don't need to know your friends to know people are removing their well thought out ink choices in growing numbers.

More people with tattoos = more people removing them. Yeah, that's basic math. Your own source says this: "Spending on tattoo removals is still growing and is expected to hit $83.2 million in 2018, keeping pace with growth in the overall tattoo industry, according to research firm IBISWorld. "
Also, with better technology, you'll see an increase in the use of a service, you probably had people with regret tattoos in the 70's who didn't remove them simply because it was too painful/expensive and they just shrugged and moved on with their lives. Again, your own source says this.

Doesn't prove anything, really.

 

[Fenderputty]

When you quoted me a was making a statement about people I know personally. Reading comprehension fail?

I bolded the statement I was originally commenting. People make mistakes and change their mind. Your friends are people. They're not immune to this. Data supports this position. Which is why I doubt ALL of your friends made the sound choice for the rest of their lives.

More people with tattoos = more people removing them. Yeah, that's basic math. Your own source says this: "Spending on tattoo removals is still growing and is expected to hit $83.2 million in 2018, keeping pace with growth in the overall tattoo industry, according to research firm IBISWorld. "
Also, with better technology, you'll see an increase in the use of a service, you probably had people with regret tattoos in the 70's who didn't remove them simply because it was too painful/expensive and they just shrugged and moved on with their lives.

Doesn't prove anything, really.

I didn't really comments on percentages going up. I didn't because I didn't have that information. I'm not sure why you're commenting as though I did. Regardless of what the actual percentage is, clearly not every tattoo is thought out well.

 

[bionic77]

My own experience with hiring managers in the US is that yes, many of them are old school and would be less inclined to hire someone with visible tattoos. And no, of course they would not tell you that is the reason, it would be very difficult to prove.

There are industries though, where tattoos are the norm and you would be fine. But you could be cutting yourself off from some companies owned by some old conservative guy or clean cut corporate environments. I have plenty of tattooed friends who have never had an issue with employment. Know your industry I guess.

I also witnessed people filter out resumes based on ethnic sounding names, or by addresses where many minorities lived. It would be very hard for anyone to prove discrimination.

How many people are getting tattoos that can't be covered up via a dress shirt or pants?

I don't see a lot of people with face tattoos. I guess something on the hand is probably not uncommon, but for most people I would guess this is not that big of a problem?

 

[eagledare]

I bolded the statement I was originally commenting. People make mistakes and change their mind. Your friends are people. They're not immune to this.

LOL okay buddy. I'll keep you posted if they have their tattoos removed, since you seem to be committed to the opinion that everyone everywhere is going to regret their tattoos at some point (they don't). Until then rest assured they're proud of their body art and not worried in the least about opinions like yours.

 

[Temeculan3000]

How many people are getting tattoos that can't be covered up via a dress shirt or pants?

I don't see a lot of people with face tattoos. I guess something on the hand is probably not uncommon, but for most people I would guess this is not that big of a problem?

Right really only matters if you have face / neck / finger tattoos.

Or I suppose if you had a full sleeve and wore short sleeves in the summer or something. But you could easily wear long sleeve shirts for the interview process.

 

[Morrigan Stark]

I didn't really comments on percentages going up. I didn't because I didn't have that information.

You didn't read your own link...?

Telling.

I'm not sure why you're commenting as though I did. Regardless of what the actual percentage is, clearly not every tattoo is thought out well.

Again: literally no one denies that regret tattoos exist. You're the one who mentioned the "growth" of the tattoo-removal industry to make a point about... some other poster's personal friends. lol

 

[tonysidaway]

Disfigure!? Seriously?

Yes. Permanent tattoos require skin layers right down to the dermis to be damaged. The damage is never fully repaired, which is what makes the tattoo permanent.

 

[Quixzlizx]

As someone who despises smokers... this is just really weird. And dickish.

Smokers constantly take smoke breaks, and they also cost more to insure medically.

So it may be dickish, but it isn't really "weird."

Edit: And I guess they might also smell like smoke while interacting with clients/customers if they aren't careful, if the position happens to be front-facing.

 

[Etrian Oddity]

For the record, I fully support balls-to-the-wall crazy Yakuza tattoos that cover like 80% of one's person.

 

[Random Painted HIghway]

So what I learned from this thread is that one person can be the most qualified worker in the world, but as soon as he paints his skin, his skills automatically vanish.

"It's unprofessional!"

Spoiler

Lol

I take it you aren't in a business that sells products to old folks or conservative folks? I'm a lawyer, if I have a neck tattoo, good luck getting a jury to pay attention to what I'm saying. Also, good luck if you're a defendant in a criminal trial or either side in a civil trial trying to get the jury to buy into your arguments. if you're a widget maker or a bar tender or it guy, not a big deal probably, but if you have to sell yourself to a broad range of clientele, you are going to be impacted.

 

[tonysidaway]

Is it ironic he picked those when he admitted those will be out of style soon? lol Nothing ironic about it, actually.

This post gives me nightmare visions of somebody with the lyrics of the Alanis Morissette's song Ironic tattooed on their body. If they were later to be employed as Weird Al's agent, would that be ironic?

 

[BertramCooper]

that is just one way of thinking though. every tattoo is different. personally I prefer to give my artist as much freedom as possible, because I'm going to them specifically to get tattooed because I respect their portfolio as a whole and it reflects where I wanted my tattoos to go. shit one of my tattoos was completely made out of the blue in sharpie on my skin then tatted over right, based off of inspiration I gave the artist. just came out from what was in his head, and that's what makes it awesome, imo. I wanted a completely original piece out of the guy's head, with inspiration given. I'm paying this dude a shitton of money, and it's because I want his artistic touch, not because I want a carbon copy of something else.

but my point is people don't 'think less about their tattoo' just because they didn't mull the decision for 20 years before biting the bullet and getting it.

Yeah, I get that. As long as the design is approved by the person getting it, that makes sense.

In addition to working in graphic design for my profession, I'm also just kind of a control freak. So for my first tattoo and any in the future, I basically want to do the entire design of the tat myself, and simply turn it over to the artist for the inking process.

But to each his/her own.

 

[eatingforwork]

Never ran into any discrimination in the US, but have in both Japan and Korea. In Japan, been barred from entering certain onsen (hot springs) and in Korea was refused entry to a restaurant because I was wearing short sleeves and my arm tattoos were visible.

Seems to be lots of opinions on what folks get inked on their body here, wow. I don't care what people get tattooed on them. It's their body, their choice. That's not to say I think someone can get something dumb, but hey, it's their decision. That said, every tattoo I have has a deep personal meaning or story for me. I'm not the guy running around getting random stuff inked all over me. My only pet peeve for other folks' tattoos is when they get brands or logos inked on them. I can't wrap my head around that, regardless of what it is.

 

[Morrigan Stark]

Smokers constantly take smoke breaks, and they also cost more to insure medically.

So it may be dickish, but it isn't really "weird."

Edit: And I guess they might also smell like smoke while interacting with clients/customers if they aren't careful, if the position happens to be front-facing.

Ehhh that wouldn't happen here because smoking indoors is banned outside of your own home.

Non-smokers take breaks too, water cooler, coffee breaks, walks, etc. As for health insurance, we have a group rate that's essentially the same for everyone as far as I know. Is that not the case in most companies?

Spoiler

Can't believe I'm defending smokers, lol

 

[Fenderputty]

LOL okay buddy. I'll keep you posted if they have their tattoos removed, since you seem to be committed to the opinion that everyone everywhere is going to regret their tattoos at some point (they don't). Until then rest assured they're proud of their body art and not worried in the least about opinions like yours.

Actually my opinion is that SOME (not even close to everyone) will regret their tattoo choice. I've been pretty consistent here. If you're friends are lucky enough to never regret their choice. Good for them I suppose. It seems likely to me that one of them will probably regret their choice though.

Again: literally no one denies that regret tattoos exist. You're the one who mentioned the "growth" of the tattoo-removal industry to make a point about... some other poster's personal friends. lol

Look man ... my initial claim was that going by tattoo removal stats and the undeniable growth, its then reasonable to assume a person who chooses to get a tattoo now may regret that decision. I made this post to someone who feels their friends all made super well though out decisions that they'll never regret. That seems like a silly bet to me. Especially considering length of time.

If you want to obfuscate more (Making this a percentage thing) in your game of internet oneupsmanship, by all means knock yourself out.

 

[Pesmerga00]

But dude, tattoos are permanent! Don't you realize that? What if you marry another woman some day and your new wife resents your old tattoo (nevermind that you probably wouldn't want to marry someone so petty, shh)?

You don't think the person you are marrying, will resent another persons name permanently on you?

 

[Morrigan Stark]

You don't think the person you are marrying, will resent another persons name permanently on you?

Who said anything about names?

 

[STI]

if you want to pursue a career in white collar jobs, you should not have tatooes that are visible while in suits/formal dress. as for blue collar jobs, employers probably don't care, unless its something dealing with customers directly.

edit: typo

 

[Fudgepuppy]

Funny part is that since I created this thread, I haven't gotten a tattoo, but I've gotten gauges in my ears.

Not big ones, stretching them now, but probably not going to make them bigger than 8mm. Not gonna be able to hide them though.

Based on my job and aspirations for the future though, I don't see myself ever being offered a job in a company that would discriminate against them, or tattoos.

I have people left and right from corporate and our client, telling me how awesome I am, setting up meetings and workshops for future positions, so right now I'm not afraid.

Main reason I haven't gotten my tattoo yet, is because I'm really terrified of starting it, and realizing it's too painful to finish.

Just need some more time.

And for the record, I've recently started wearing long sleeve shirts, because I look awesome in them with gauges and a long beard.

 

[EYEL1NER]

I take it you aren't in a business that sells products to old folks or conservative folks? I'm a lawyer, if I have a neck tattoo, good luck getting a jury to pay attention to what I'm saying. Also, good luck if you're a defendant in a criminal trial or either side in a civil trial trying to get the jury to buy into your arguments. if you're a widget maker or a bar tender or it guy, not a big deal probably, but if you have to sell yourself to a broad range of clientele, you are going to be impacted.

Do old people and conservative types not shop at Target, Walmart/Sam's Club, Target, Home Depot, PetCo, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods. Dunkin Donuts, and countless other retailers that have lax tattoo policies? The people running these businesses are all about making tons of money but don't seem to think that tattooed employees interacting with customers impacts them negatively. Or are the old people and conservative-types okay with it in these instances because they expect that low-class jobs will be held by low-class people?

 

[cheermancy]

You're not crazy. Your tattoos will be with you until you die.

Do you want to be 80 years old with a full sleeve tattoo?

I could care less about my tattoos being permanent or being old with tattoos. I just dislike the stigmatization of tattoos which I have no control over. This is why I have them where they are easily hidden.

 

[tonysidaway]

Who said anything about names?

So everybody learned from Johnny Depp's "Wino forever" mistake? Cool. The man is a true god.

 

[EYEL1NER]

You don't think the person you are marrying, will resent another persons name permanently on you?

It wasn't a name that was tattooed on the person Morrigan was quoting, but even if it was, I think it'd be a bit of a dick move for someone to be upset over having a tattoo of their fiancée who died. I know I'd feel like an ass if my wife was once engaged to someone she loved, that person died, she got a tattoo in memory of that person and what they had together, and then I resented it. The tattoo isn't the problem in that situation, the problem is with the resentful person and their feelings of inadequacy and jealousy.

 

[Quixzlizx]

Ehhh that wouldn't happen here because smoking indoors is banned outside of your own home.

Non-smokers take breaks too, water cooler, coffee breaks, walks, etc. As for health insurance, we have a group rate that's essentially the same for everyone as far as I know. Is that not the case in most companies?

Spoiler

Can't believe I'm defending smokers, lol

In the United States, the rate for everyone in a customer pool will rise or fall partially depending on how much the insurance company is paying out in claims for said pool. So if there are smokers who are less healthy, it'll raise the rate for everyone.

At my company, they partially get around this by adding a smokers' surcharge to the rates of smokers in order for it not to affect the non-smokers as much.

Also, in most places in the US smoking is not banned everywhere except outside of your home (although I wish it was).

 

[EYEL1NER]

Here are two links to some writing I found early this morning while I was trying to decide if any some of the posters in here were worth responding to or not (I've found that most prejudiced people don't ever chance their minds no matter how hard you argue with them, so it makes it hard to want to try). At the very least some of the tattooed members of GAF can get some enjoyment from what he's saying and nod their head in agreement with him. I don't know anything about the guy but from his other articles it doesn't seem like he is some white supremacist or anything, so maybe I won't have egg on my face for linking to him.
http://www.davechampionshow.com/archives/?p=2412
https://davechampionsliberty.com/20...about-tattoo-discrimination-in-the-workplace/

I particularly liked this section:

As the discussion progressed, one of the men – a gentleman who holds a civil engineering degree and is employed as a structural engineer – commented that there is no place for visible tattoos in the professional engineering world. This man is certainly a professional. No doubt about it. If I needed a bang-up structural engineer, he’d be at the top of my list. But I wondered how he could, with a straight face, make the pronouncement that there is no place for visible ink in his profession. If someone appointed him the arbiter of professionalism within the engineering community, I missed that memo. In fact, I’m pretty certain 99.99% of all engineers missed that memo.

Wanting to understand his position better, I asked him the following. “If you got a tattoo on your forearm, would that diminish your expertise as an engineer?”

He acknowledged that it wouldn’t diminish his professional expertise in the least, but added that others wouldn’t see it that way. “Others?” I asked.

“Yes, the customers.”

Ah. So now we’re down to the truth of it! There is absolutely nothing about visible ink that is unprofessional. There is merely an opinion, held by some people, that tattoos will be considered to project an unprofessional appearance.

Well, an opinion that tattoos project an unprofessional appearance is certainly different than the statements that were being made, which characterized it as a concrete fact of life, on par with saying the body needs oxygen to survive. Forgive me for saying so, but portraying personal opinion as if it is a hard and fast truth doesn’t sound like something a “professional” should be doing.

All this wouldn’t be important if good people weren’t being hurt by it every day.

Let me be blunt. The statement that visible tattoos project an unprofessional appearance is nothing more than small-minded bigotry. The statement is merely the expression of the personal prejudice of the person speaking. There is no factual basis for it. Those words have no more rationality than if the person said "Black people have no place in the professional world." Both statements are the result of personal prejudice, not intellect, not fact, not evidence, and not reason. Such words are uttered without a shred of evidence to support them. And like racism, the only veneer of correctness they garner comes from others with the same prejudice saying, "Right you are!" It is one dipshit using the agreement of other dipshits that his dipshit statement has some validity. How... um... "professional" of them.

 

[Random Painted HIghway]

Do old people and conservative types not shop at Target, Walmart/Sam's Club, Target, Home Depot, PetCo, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods. Dunkin Donuts, and countless other retailers that have lax tattoo policies? The people running these businesses are all about making tons of money but don't seem to think that tattooed employees interacting with customers impacts them negatively. Or are the old people and conservative-types okay with it in these instances because they expect that low-class jobs will be held by low-class people?

I thought with my law example it was clear that I was referring to sales jobs like commission based or client retainer based, not cashiers whose job it is to ring up purchases that they took no part in actually convincing the patron to purchase.

 

[mentallyinept]

I think the culture of tattoo's is changing slowly.

What was once seen as a brand by gangs and criminals, is now being done by everyone.

That said, there is still an image of the "business professional" that lots of business' have to contend with:

1. Clean shaven (more recently, a very well kept beard) and short hair for men, makeup + hair in a bun or some other kind of constraint for women
2. Nice fitting suit\dress.
3. No visible forms of self-expression at all, with the exception of nationally recognized charities like Breast Cancer Awareness ribbons and American Flag pins.

In essence, they don't want you to be yourself. Business' want you (and in some cases need you) to be an avatar of the company when you show up for work.

I think there is some merit in this thought process as it reduces the chances of offending people to the highest degree possible. But I also think that the number of jobs with these restrictions is far too high.

 

[Fudgepuppy]

I find it absurd that people are saying "Tattooed people are unprofessional".

Why? Because of their tattoo, their capabilities, expertise and strengths are diminished?

"It's because they don't think and make rash decisions."

How do you know that? Maybe their tattoo took them years to finalize, going through a lot of experiences and development.

"It's because the client won't like them"

Maybe, but things will stay that way as long as we go around, claiming that a tattoo defines your weaknesses, rather than your other traits.

I've been around enough people with tattoos to know that in the end, it's just ink.

And tattoo removal has probably risen because of the larger amount of people getting tattoos the last 20-30 years.

 

[tonysidaway]

I think the culture of tattoo's is changing slowly.

What was once seen as a brand by gangs and criminals, is now being done by everyone

I get that. And apologies for hijacking your comment which goes on to make some very good points.

I'm still a bit freaked out by tattoos. The feeling is "Why the fuck did you do that, you idiot?" It's quite visceral, really. It's really a WTF thing.

This thread has honestly led me to see the other side.

But still the WTF.

 

[mentallyinept]

I get that. And apologies for hijacking your comment which goes on to make some very good points.

I'm still a bit freaked out by tattoos. The feeling is "Why the fuck did you do that, you idiot?" It's quite visceral, really. It's really a WTF thing.

This thread has honestly led me to see the other side.

But still the WTF.

I used to feel the same way and the thought of putting a permanent mark on my body freaks me out personally, but I've come to appreciate the artistry behind a good tattoo.

If done properly, you can end up being a walking\talking art exhibit, which is pretty cool.

 

[tonysidaway]

If done properly, you can end up being a walkingtalking art exhibit, which is pretty cool.

No. I'm not an artist and I don't want to pay somebody else to use me as a canvas and billboard. Besides, this shit is permanent. A performance artist would paint the design in a single day, in water-soluble paint, then sell a limited edition of copies. Wouldn't cost you a penny.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

Which is why I chose an image by a long-dead artist that I admire, which deserves more people seeing it.

(It's not visible usually, though.)

 

[E-flux]

I don't see me ever removing my tattoos, they are not perfect, but they are part of me now. Reminding me of past events. People who hate tattoos should get a tattoo in this thread.

 

[Valkerionseven]

Personally have no problems with tattoos but its also completely the person's choice. I've seen some amazing art tattoos and some absolutely garbage ones in terms of quality and position but it's their choice. In terms of "professional" or not, I would completely argue there is nothing wrong with them in the work place. I have to fucking deal with people who walk into work smelling like the carton of cigarettes they smoked, this is at a damn elementary school no less which I would say is a billion times more offensive than some ink on their arm ect.

I've been wanting one recently but its definitely something I plan to think out before doing so. I never really considered it til recently, I always thought they were dumb as a child, cause lets face it there are a fuck ton of terrible tattoos we see everyday.

 

[-Gozer-]

I don't see me ever removing my tattoos, they are not perfect, but they are part of me now. Reminding me of past events. People who hate tattoos should get a tattoo in this thread.

Yup.

They should get a tattoo of themselves getting a tattoo.

 

[rokkerkory]

Not here, thank goodness. I work for a very large company with very accepting culture. We even had a blog about 'ink' recently where some of the employees shared their art and reasons why they got them.

I know I am prob in the minority and lucky here though.

 

[TheClimaxan]

I have some super religious in-laws that side eye my tattoos from time to time, and I was once told during a job interview they would be an issue. Beyond that, nothing too crazy in terms of tattoo discrimination. 90% of the reaction I get from strangers, co-workers or clients are people complementing the art or asking about the origin of the idea.

I made the conscious decision before getting my first visible tattoo that I would never work in a field that wouldn't accept them or make much time for people who were offended by them. I have 5 total and zero regrets.

 

[17 Seconds]

i mean, it's stupid, but i find it hard to have sympathy considering it's a choice you're making

 

[EYEL1NER]

i mean, it's stupid, but i find it hard to have sympathy considering it's a choice you're making

Would you be sympathetic to someone being discriminated against because of their religion? Thats also a choice someone is making.

I don't see me ever removing my tattoos, they are not perfect, but they are part of me now. Reminding me of past events. People who hate tattoos should get a tattoo in this thread.

Yep. I found it pretty funny when someone said "What about in 10, or even 5 years, when you no longer like whatever you disfigured your body with?" It's just slightly over 10 years since I got my second tattoo, the summer of 2007. 10 years and I'm still not really regretting my decisions at all. It's not like 10 years is even a long time to have a tattoo anyway.
Some people are so sure that the "tattoo fad" is going to end soon though, ignoring that it has been around for thousands of years. European kings, tsars, kaisers, and emperors have had tattoos over the ages, many were some form of family crest or coat of arms. The first documented professional tattoo artist in the USA inked both northern and southern troops during the Civil War, that's how old paying for a tattoo in the US is. But people are bound to come to their senses and will stop defacing their pure and holy skin with stupid pictures made from disgusting ink, any day now...

 

[sephiroth7x]

In general, I think I echo with most people on here in saying that most aren't 100% accepting of tattoo's but it also completely depends on company etc.

I have two full sleeves, one of them to gaming and one of them to my favourite band Bad Religion (Which hold a potentially very offensive logo depending on where you are) and I am manager of the Competence and Training team, which I had to interview for. I had both arms out, because I physically cannot stand long sleeve shirts... (Yep I am that guy)... and I got the job, so completely depends... I personally have had no stigma regarding mine...

 

[SlickShoes]

This is a great thread for realising that opinions aren't really changing as fast as people think. Some crazy opinions and shitting on lower classes, I'm glad I don't work with any of these people.

 

[siddx]

Some real dumbfuck posts in this thread.
I'm closing in on my next tattoo, it's been a few years and I've given it enough thought without souring on the idea. I'll be double sleeved when it happens.