We have gone through a number of different changes in our society, one of them being tattoos becoming a “social norm,” especially among the millennial generation. The question that begs to be asked, though; Will businesses start catching up with the times and realize that tattoos and/or body piercings have become a way of life for this new generation? Can you be a lawyer and have tattoos up your arm, like Kid Rock, David Beckham, or even LeBron James? How about a doctor, like Dr. Jim Stoppani, who received his Ph.D. from the University of Connecticut in Exercise Physiology and a minor in Biochemistry? Let’s face it, tattoos have become a way of the world, there’s no changing that, but again, will businesses change their views whether or not tattoos are acceptable in the workplace?
We decided to take a poll from some of the contacts, and surprisingly enough, 58% said it’s not really that unprofessional to have tattoos in the workplace, while 27% said they think it is unprofessional, and the other 16% really didn’t care one way or the other. Now we do realize that there are some stipulations behind what is acceptable and what is not. Common rule, which we believe, if your pastor, mother, or grandmother would be offended by it, probably should still cover it up. We asked for a comment from First National Bank of Fort Smith, arguably probably one of the larger employers in Fort Smith, and they gave us this from their employee handbook, “Tattoos must be inconspicuous or covered either by clothing, hosiery or socks,” which in most places, seems to be the common theme.
Now, why do we get tattoos in the first place? Well, there are a number of different reasons; we like to express ourselves and for most, each tattoo tells a story. Another reason could be, that person got their first tattoo at 18 and just absolutely loved the feeling and the rush from getting inked, but whatever reason, it’s a personal choice by that person and a good way to tell their story. We once looked at tattoos as being a savage and rebellion form of art, only prisoners or military had tattoos. Now, though, we see most of your common athletes with tattoos, music artists, tv personalities, actors, and maybe that barista that serves you coffee, every, single morning.
The point here is tattoos have become a normal way of our life, and like I said earlier, it’s probably not going to go away. Our goal with this story isn’t to try and sway the common business owner into allowing their employees to start showing tattoos or to tell you that you must accept tattoos as a way of life. Though not everyone with tattoos is like Dennis Rodman, where you go out and marry Madonna and ride your motorcycle through the city of Chicago with nothing on, a wedding vale. No, most of us that have tattoos or just normal people, just like you, we choose to express and honor memories differently.