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As you may know I have suffered discrimintation at work. My boss says to me today, How good of a worker I am, yada yada. Yet he didn't give me a chance to show this when I started, All he could see was the hair, and frankly It doesn't mean much to me hearing that from him, I still can't stand him. Why are some many employers, and other people so petty that they push there noses where they don't belong. I mean why Does it even matter if one has hair or not? Why not judge on the things that matter, and relize you can't have everything to your way. I keep hearing this "it reflects on the company" and that how you look reflects on one's work. I have found that this is not at all true, almost ideotic. I just want to know why some people are so afraid of such things. Where I work the most incompatent people are the most conservatively dressed!
Ah yes, as I always say; "Be brilliant in what you do. That way you will be a shining example of what a long hair really is!"
I'm one of four guys at work with long hair, the rest have short hair. We're all delivery and pickup drivers for a large freight carrier. This is my 12th year working for this company. My attendance is perfect. I've had no driving accidents in eleven years. My hair is to the midle of my back, I don't tie it back and my bosses have never bothered me about it. They know I'm dependable and a hard worker. Maybe that's why they don't bother me about the hair.
I make it a point to be that way professionally and in everyday life. I realize that as a longhair I am in the minority. I also realize that many people have negative views toward long haired guys. I make sure that I am nice and treat everyone with respect. I have a great deal of respect for older people, and always address them as "sir" or "ma'am". I never act stupid or show disrespect or disregard to others.
My boss knows that I make a valuable contribution at work, and no one here has ever said anything about my hair other than "it's pretty" or some comment like that.
In public, even if I'm offended by someone making rude remarks, I don't reply in kind. I simply thank them for their opinion, tell them I disagree and that I won't comment on their appearance, and move on. The only altercation I ever had was at a Journey concert in 1999 when I was pushed in the men's restroom and called a "girly girl". When walking away only resulted in more verbal crap and being pushed down, I broke the guy's nose and blacked his left eye with one punch and walked away. More like ran once security tried to find me. It was between Foreigner's set and Journey, and I wasn't about to miss Journey!
If he'd just made comments, it would have been no big deal. It was when he pushed me the second time, from behind, real hard, making me fall down that I did what I did.