How do you remain normal in life?

tehaleks · 06-29-2006, 10:27 AM

K, first post, hi and stuff blah.

Second, I'm sorry if the title is offensive.

Anyway, for years I've been wanting to do more extreme stuff (sorry, that sounds weird too), but I've always been reluctant to do anything more extreme than, omg, two piercings in my ears! and purple (and black) hair dye. I was brought up to be nice and good and wholesome by dear ol' mommy (though I'm sure my dad would have liked to see me be less boring).

Mostly what I'm trying to say here is that every time I go for job interviews, they have pretty dumb requirements of what you have to look like. No visible piercings (okay, I'll take them out during the day, but what do you do when they're healing?), tattoos, or hair color.

One of my friends has purple and platinum blonde hair and she just got a job, but she hid the purple portion of her hair under a hat. She's not sure what to do when she actually goes in. For my own example, I had an awesome time working at Victoria's Secret, it's really fun and easy working there, but I got reprimanded for having green nail polish.

Okay so I ramble a lot, sorry.

So how do YOU remain normal looking for the almighty people who pay your salary? I'm unsure how to juggle a 'life' of looking the way I want, and looking the way other people want (in order to get monies to continue to support my habit of looking the way I want)

Hopefully I was clear. I often feel like I'm unclear so I ramble, and make it worse... now I'm off to finally grow some balls and cut my hair the way I want it, and hope I can get hired somewhere afterwards.

Phayte · 06-29-2006, 11:30 AM

Please introduce yourself in the correct forum.

If they won't hire you because of that stuff then find another job in another place. There are plenty of jobs out there and plenty of employers that don't restrict how you look. Just keep trying.

tehaleks · 06-29-2006, 11:39 AM

Well this isn't really an introduction, I just wanted to say hi and not sound like a random jerk that shows up out of nowhere and starts talking...

And it's certainly easy to say "keep looking", but not easy to live it. I have rent, car insurance, old car payments from two wrecks, and a lovely $21k in hospital bills to pay before I'm murdered in my sleep and my body parts are sold to pay it all off. :\ If you apply to over 23 places and only one place offers you a spot but you have to look clean-cut, yknow, not a lot of choice there.

Though, it seems generally book stores are more lenient than other places... but that might just depend on individual management. ... and night shifts at grocery stores. And liquor stores, but I just only recently became eligible to work there anyway. :P

LittleMissTaxidermy · 06-29-2006, 11:41 AM

when i had my septum pierced, i used those clear ones, and just tucked it into my nose (it was cresent shaped). for everything else, i kept it toned down, and just dressed up outside of work.

Phayte · 06-29-2006, 12:14 PM

I have dyed hair and a very large visable tattoo. So I know it's harder to live "just keep looking" then it is to say it. I've been turned down plenty of times, but a better job was just around the corner and they don't care how I look.

Also, I know this is not an intro since it's in the fashion forum. I highly suggest you make an intro thread though. The people that would normally flame you for not doing this first have left, but a lot of us would still like it if people followed the rules.

Phayte · 06-29-2006, 12:20 PM

Dang edit timer.

I also used to have a ring in my eyebrow, lip and my tongue. I was still able to find a job.

Black Widow · 06-29-2006, 02:54 PM

Victoria's Secret reprimanded you just for wearing green nail polish? Fuck that! That's a violation of our freedom of expression, and we do not check our motherfucking rights at the door.

I say, either start a protest or find a job that lets you express yourself. I think that the anti-self-expression ethics are the work of The Man, and his "master plan to secure uniformity". I use imaginative fashion all the time...but I'm not able to go out and get a job yet. But when it's time for me to get I job, I gotta leave my creativity at home? I was never meant to wear bland clothing.

Monsosin · 06-29-2006, 11:22 PM

Normal? Black sometimes black and green hair, black or glow in the dark nail polish, septum lip and ear piercings, tattoo on my left forearm, and I feel naked with out my favorit coller. I can't say that I do anything to be normal in the work place. I got a job at a pizza place where you can't have nail polish or strange colored hair, I quit because my boss wanted me to work too much and that caused problems with my class schedual. Some arts and crafts stores near don't mind piercings or tattoos. My question is how can I do jury duity with black and green dreads with my tattoo? I don't have any shirts to hid the tattoo and I'm not taking my hair out for one day. But if you have to, they sell retainers for piercings so they can heal and not be seen, for hair, don't go to extremes no neon liberty spikes, and for tattoos try to keep them in places you can cover. I don't think this is of much help but I tried... a little.

Kettu · 06-29-2006, 11:44 PM

I really wish I didn't read this...

Alrek · 06-30-2006, 07:58 PM

The trick is to find a job that doesn't deal with people that much, and the ones that do don't tend to mind so long as the job is done properly.

Lady Victoria Pareesis · 06-30-2006, 08:34 PM

As far as I'm concerned I can't have the slightest piercing on my face.
That's the trouble with theater.
Even if I'm dying to get my lips and my tongue pierced, I shall not do it. *cries*

Draconysius · 06-30-2006, 08:56 PM

Well, I first suggest looking for a more lenient employer. If you run of out options, though, you can still be... um, what was the question again? If you mean dressing gothic, that can be achieved with overly formal dark clothing, certain diy alterations, and other methods. Other than that, I don't know what you mean by "being normal" in the workplace.