Tofu - there is a large population that gets "flash" tattoos... which are pre-designed or already-on-someone-else tats. I'm not sure how I feel about that. On the one hand it goes against what I believe a tattoo to be but also there are common images and themes that people identify with and if, in fact, they do... then why not get that common tat? Hard to really decide where to come down on that issue.

__________________
---"Why do things have to suck so bad?" a friend once asked me.
"Because space is a vacuum and that's a lot of suck." I replied.
(Actual quote)---

well, if you are going to get a tattoo you might as well get one that means something to you. Those Chinese characters really do bother me. What if instead of "love" it said "kick me" or worse?



And I do appreciate Kelfazin's tattoos, and even more so because he picked them out himself.




To those of you that would hire this girl: what are your professions?

__________________
"I will do my best to understand and explain the universe from big to small without invoking miracles, unrepeatable events, or divine intervention. In place of those things I will use observations, mathematics, and science."


-Cross
My travel blog

Some of my Astrophotography


Those that lack education have a hard time understanding its value. - Cross

maybe I am prejudiced. Some of the smartest people I know have had similar markings, but it was hard looking at them every day.

__________________
"I will do my best to understand and explain the universe from big to small without invoking miracles, unrepeatable events, or divine intervention. In place of those things I will use observations, mathematics, and science."


-Cross
My travel blog

Some of my Astrophotography


Those that lack education have a hard time understanding its value. - Cross

That photo is a) a fake and b) I am a fleet manager.

__________________
---"Why do things have to suck so bad?" a friend once asked me.
"Because space is a vacuum and that's a lot of suck." I replied.
(Actual quote)---

One of the reasons I don't have any tattoos was that I don't have anything in particular to say to the world or any particular image that sums me up. Just recently, when a co-worker got her first one and got us talking about them at work for a while, I finally thought of one that would fit perfectly, precisely because it doesn't mean anything or make any sense, and isn't supposed to and wouldn't be meant to. It would have worked as a tattoo of nothing; an anti-tattoo; a parody of or joke about tattoos and their deep personal meanings, shallow fake generic meanings, or meaninglessness. It would have made a statement by not making any particular statement, summing me up by not trying to sum me up. It would have been largely a joke rather than really serious, but that was half of the point, too, especially because people normally think of me as pretty serious and not at all given to impulsiveness or likely to get a tattoo, especially on a silly meaninglses whim.

(It was just a question mark. I thought of a fill-in-the-blank indicator, but that would have just been a horizontal line. Maybe I should get a kanji character for the word "void"!)

Then, when I described it to somebody who already has a bunch of tattoos, he said he'd thought of adding a question mark to his collection himself. To him, it wouldn't have been any kind of personal philosophical representation, not even as a joke. It would have just been some more square inches with some more milligrams of ink in them for no particular reason other than that he likes getting them. For all I know, not having ever paid attention to tattoos until recently, question marks could be really common and unoriginal.

From this, I learned two things:

1. People with tattoos don't seem to agree with each other on whether or not they're supposed to have real meaning because there are plenty of tattoo customers who assign meanings to them and plenty of others who don't...

...and...

2. No matter what design you come up with, you can never do one that's unique and won't be "spoiled" by others turning out to have the same one, so if you're going to get one, you might as well accept blending in and accept getting what others have anyway.

this ain't fake. Would you hire this guy?

__________________
"I will do my best to understand and explain the universe from big to small without invoking miracles, unrepeatable events, or divine intervention. In place of those things I will use observations, mathematics, and science."


-Cross
My travel blog

Some of my Astrophotography


Those that lack education have a hard time understanding its value. - Cross

Those are just gauged piercings. So yes, i would. There is no picture you can send here that I would say "no I wouldn't hire person x" based solely on their picture. If you are that prejudiced then by all means use what you see to determine a persons worth.

I *know* most of the people in the body mod community or at least know of them. 99% of them are good people that are highly skilled in their field.

__________________
---"Why do things have to suck so bad?" a friend once asked me.
"Because space is a vacuum and that's a lot of suck." I replied.
(Actual quote)---

I appreciate your point of view, although I consider it to be generalized and discriminatory. Like every other culture or group, there are a few bad, yet vocal, examples of extreme behavior. However, there are also a lot of perfectly nice, generous, decent, and clean people with tattoos. A large number of regulars on this board likely have tattoos. Getting one doesn't say anything about a person's intellect, morals, or behavior.

And yes, it may be a fad, but it's a fad that has lasted 10,000 years. Somehow I don't think it's going away.

__________________
I was just sitting here contemplating the immortal words of Socrates who said, "I drank what?"

"Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot." --Carl Sagan "Pale Blue Dot"

How is this different than racial discrimination? Instead of refusing to hire based on color you are refusing to hire based on jewelry, simply because it's not something you would choose for yourself.

__________________
I was just sitting here contemplating the immortal words of Socrates who said, "I drank what?"

"Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot." --Carl Sagan "Pale Blue Dot"

It's different because it's something they choose and have control over. That guy wasn't born with all that stuff in his face. A person has no control over what race they are born into and thus should not be discriminated against because of it.

How is hiring people without tattoos and piercings different than requiring your sales force to wear suits when representing your company? In either instance, you're making a minimum appearance standard as a requirement of representing your company.

Anybody that gets a tattoo on their face has to know that they are somewhat limiting their career options.

Given alternative options (any really) - I have to say that I wouldn't hire that guy.

__________________
Spock Jenkins of the Vulcan Jenkins'.

If he was a good freelance writer who was punctual and the job required no contact with the public...

Yes.

Probably save me some bucks, too, as it doesn't look like his competing job prospects would garner him much salary elsewhere...

__________________
I am Mugs, of the Alien clan of Usa, Nordamerica, a Terran, of Sol. Human.

Whoever says "perception is reality" is daft. It's merely an abstraction, and often not a very good one.

Ok switch the argument to religion then. Would you discriminate against a person wearing any number of religious head coverings (turban, yalmaka, hijab, etc) because they didn't match the company's suit policy?

Because you can still wear a suit with tattoos and piercings. Should a burn victim not be allowed to work because they don't meet the minimum appearance requirements? We're not talking about voluntary or involuntary appearance changes here, we're talking the appearance itself. Why should some people with altered appearances be allowed to work when others aren't?

I'm sure they do know that, that doesn't make it right.

That says more about you than it does about the man with the tats and piercings.

__________________
I was just sitting here contemplating the immortal words of Socrates who said, "I drank what?"

"Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot." --Carl Sagan "Pale Blue Dot"

I'm quite taken aback by the sheer ignorance by some of the posters here (and I mean that in the technical way - ignoring something -*not stupid*).

You are using completely arbitrary ideas of what someone should look like based on your own ideals to judge *competence* and *functionality*.

__________________
---"Why do things have to suck so bad?" a friend once asked me.
"Because space is a vacuum and that's a lot of suck." I replied.
(Actual quote)---

So you would also take the racially (as implied by some) discriminatory approach of limiting his career choices based on appearance on not demonstrated ability or knowledge? You know if you told a minority that they couldn't work with the public because of how they look, you could get in a lot of trouble? So I can only assume that you agree that this is different and warranted in some places.

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Spock Jenkins of the Vulcan Jenkins'.

Also different. It’s illegal to discriminate on the basis of religion, and one could make the argument that an individual is as much born into their religion as they are their race and often have little in the way of actual choice. Regardless, one can appear very professional and wear a turbin and a suit – so that doesn’t impact the hiring decision.

You may not be talking voluntary and involuntary – but I am. You mention a burn victim. That is involuntary and I would take that into consideration – absolutely. Again, I’m thinking along the lines of hiring for a position in dealing with my customers. My decision is going to be made in part on what individual will have the most success dealing with my customer base. I also take into account an individuals choices they’ve make in life. Whether or not they chose to get a good education. Whether or not they chose to stay out of jail. Whether or not they chose to stay away from drugs. Whether or not they chose to put two-inch holes in their ears and drive a spike though their nose.

I’ve never seen an ink free tattoo artist employed at a tattoo parlor. Do tattoo parlor’s discriminate against such individuals?

I can live with that.

Don't we all though? Saves a lot of time. And they're not completely arbitrary. They are grounded in years of cultural norms. Completely arbitrary would be if I only hired people who dyed their hair purple and weighed 173 lbs on Tuesday's and used a different standard on Wednesday's.

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Spock Jenkins of the Vulcan Jenkins'.

Yet it's legal to discriminate against somebody with tattoos...why is that?

What if the tats are religious or cultural, like a maori tribesman?


You're talking about appearances. A burn victim could be very scary to children, but a person with tattoos or piercings is the one you would turn down. Let's say the man in the picture above had a master's from an Ivy League school and 10 years in the line of work you were looking for, would you still bypass him because of his choice of personal decoration?

Tattoo artists practice their craft on their own bodies in order to perfect their skills. It's also a walking advertisement for said skills. I have no doubt that a tattoo parlor, upon seeing the skill of a non-inked person, would not discriminate based on that. They are more open minded than others.

__________________
I was just sitting here contemplating the immortal words of Socrates who said, "I drank what?"

"Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot." --Carl Sagan "Pale Blue Dot"