new thread
I am at about month 9 of my growing out, which I don't consider to even be very long, about 5 inches long. I've worked for a company for 3 years and today my supervisor mentioned my hair and how employees are meant to be neat and professional. He was hinting that the time will soon come where ill be forced to cut it. What bothers me most is how longer hair is assumed to be dirty and unprofessional, when did that start? my hair is always groomed and clean, parted and well-kept. Funny thing is, a co-worker of mine at a separate branch has hair to his back and has not experienced any issues. It's a bummer, bad time to be jobless but I'd prefer not working with a company that feels no loyalty to employees and sees hair styles alone as reason for dismissal.
Agreed, I know it's easy for me to say as it isn't my problem but...just stand your ground, if you have been a faithful worker for the company for years and they would dismiss you on something as silly as your hair then they really are not worth working for. My dad recently quit his job and got a new one because he was sick of seeing all the new 20 year old lazy/needy computer techs and having to hold their hand through everything because hes their "go to when you have a problem" guy. My dad had brought up this issue politely many times with his superiors to no avail, so since he felt he was being taken advantage of in the company he left. Of course my dad has nearly 30 years of work experience so landing another job wasn't the hardest thing for him, but still sometimes you have to stand up for your rights.
The awkward stage is rough on the people around us as well us ourselves. You're going to have to come up with some coping strategies to make sure that your hair if forced to behave until it's long enough to do what it's told. What everyone else sees isn't a guy who will have nice hair in a year, but someone who doesn't look neat and tidy right now.
For me, it was lots of gel, mousse, and spray until it was long enough to put into a tail.
AndrewB
The problem may be with just this supervisor.
You could sit down with him and tell him you are growing it out and will keep it in a tail as soon as it gets long enough. If he ask you why just say you like the look.
It seems the tail is much more readily accepted with long hair on males than any other hair style. Also you won't have to guess about how he feels about it and if you may have to start looking for another job.
Does the company actually have a dress code? Does it mention hair? Is the hair policy well defined and specifically state a length? All these and chinks in the armor of stupidity. Look for them and don't be afraid to stand up for yourself, there is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to grow out you hair. That is very important for you to remember when your discussing it with them. (It allows to honestly display that "What... are you stupid?" look on you face, lol.)
If the supervisor turns out to be an hair nazi go above him. Make it clear to everyone that you want to keep your job AND your hair.
In the meantime takes Andrew's advice and use gel or whatever else you need to make it neat during the "awkward stage".
Good luck and keep us posted,
Paul
Paul everything you said has been what I have been preparing to do haha! Yes, Ill be sittin down with him monday and trying to see if i can get to the bottom of his hair-hating theology. I looked in our work manual and it says "should be neat and professional". Sounds to me like as long as I keep the awkward stage under control it should be fine right? hopefully it will be that easy. Now that my hair is getting long it feels wrong in my bones to ever cut it! ill let you know what happens monday..
YOu are not alone ack in Wahington State I workds f a c Danalds and they kept me in the cleaning because of my long hear and tey tried to gt me to cut my hair but I quit for another reason
Birdman