Tattoos and L.A. city employees

[RICHARD]

http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_9678491

I read this article and am kinda split on the issue.

I like tats, but would never get one.
I do think that excess tattooing is offensive in some work situations and I do agree that some businesses/professions do have the rights to include them in a dress code-same deal with piercings.

The part about covering them up while in the station house is stupid, but looking at some of the LAPD cops that have more tattoos than some of the gang bangers they arrest, I do see the point.

I don't mind a little peek of a bicep tattoo covered by a sleeve or an ankle tat.

Not a fan of the Arse Stamps or the "sleeves", if they are done tastefully, I can get by....

I do get kind of creeped out when I get my change from a cashier and the eyeball peeking out from the skin peeled back by a razor/knife on their inner forearm catches my attention.

For pete's sake, Have the sale items posted on your palm, Or better yet, have the bar code for good customer discounts put there.

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The flayed skin/tendon tattoos are creepy.
The tribal tats are out of favor.
Names, hearts and service tattoos are O.K.
Flora and fauna can go either way. The wild boar tattoo on your back looks funny because of the tank top you are wearing.
The Virgin Mary and religious tats are 50/50 with me. I get queasy around the Bleeding Sacred Heart.
Face tats are definitely a no-no, unless you were the heavyweight boxing champion.
They are not good for women singers with lung problems. I mean look at poor Amy Winehouse......WINEHOUSE? That's a name that screams of problems.....But, I digress.


Body type is important for the type of tat you get.
Nice chubby biceps are good! If you tat your calf make sure it goes north to south. Those east-west tats makes your leg look fatter.

And ladies, why do you tat at the so high up on the bicep?


I think that tats should be reserved for the wild people in life- bikers, sailors mechanics....To preserve their choice of lifestyle and going against the flow...


The 125 lb., Six foot two cashier at the drug store isn't my idea of lawbreaker/dreamer/wild thing.

I know that we are a more modern and more accepting world, but sometimes we try to force a style/fad/fashion on everyone. Sometime it's a bit much and you have to blame the people that take it overboard....they ruin it for the rest of us!

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You know......I kinda like Garfield.....but where would I put a orange kitty?

[Laura's Babies]

The cutiest tatoo I saw was on the ankle of a waitress at Shoney's.. It was my hero GRAFIELD doing that scratching thing as he slid down her ankle. She was required to cover it up while she worked but I always had to see it.. it was so cute!

I worked with a engineer that had birds in flight tatoo'd on his arms, wings going from elbo to wrists, they were nothing but pure artwork and beautiful!

However, I do not normally like tatoo's and if I were a business owner, anyone I hired with them would have to keep them covered at work. Same thing with face and tongue piercings.. NOT AT WORK!

[pitc9]

I once worked with a girl who had a good friend that is a tattoo artist.
Needles to say she was covered!!

Her entire back in covered with huge angel wings, she has both arms sleeved and to complete the outfit she had an old western style gun belt, guns AND a sheriff star included too!! I never minded it until the one day she asked me to come into the bathroom with her and help her wrap her gun belt with saran wrap!

I don't mind tat's at all, I'd like to get my dogs paw prints one day.

I have to agree 100% about the face tat's!
That's a little too much!

[lizbud]

I don't think the firefighters can do much about this if their own union
backs the idea. I think it's pretty dumb to take this to the extreme and
check for showing tats when they are sleeping.

I read an article the other day about Tattoos that said, people with five
or more tats are twice as likely to die a violent death than people without
tats.

[Suki Wingy]

I'm about to get my first two this year, as soon as I can afford it. I've been thinking long and hard about what and why, and they're both small. upper back and foot.
I tend to not like the huge memorials, complete with dates of death and names. I don't get why you'd want the date that someone you loved died inked permanently on your body.

As for ones I like, my uncle has a DNA strand around his arm, and my riding instructor has a pair of feathery blue wings on her back. Her training service is called Blue Feather Farms.

[DJFyrewolf36]

I agree that some tattoos are really in poor taste, and I get the feeling like Im being forced to stare at them lol. Some of them are nicely done pieces of art though. Really it comes down to a lot of thought and planning on the part of the person getting ink done and the artist too.
As for the memorial thing, I plan on getting one for my daughter. To me it symbolizes the life that I know existed, and it keeps it with me. No it isn't going to be huge, nor visible unless I happen to be wearing a tank top or something along those lines. And in that case my wings on my back, the rose on my shoulder (which will be part of the memorial) would be visiable too.
My tattoos are a personal expression of things that are part of my core being. Honestly even if they ARE visible Im not too teribly concerned what people think
I guess thats why I made sure none of them are visible wearing standard work attire, with the exception of the small cross on the ring finger of my left hand. Technically in my job now, Im supposed to cover it up but my boss doesn't have an issue with it and so far Ive only had one person (a boss I had when I was working retail) even bring it up as an issue.
LOL I guess I shouldn't be defensive of it. So many people though get tattoos on a whim and I think its obvious. Even great artwork can feel like it doesn't belong where its sitting, you know?
Back to the original topic lol...Honestly if public service agencies are concerned about perception, I agree with covering tattoos up. You never know what a person will think. However I do have a problem with them making them an issue when someone is not out in public. It would be like my company telling me I cant wear things exposing my tattoos in my house. However, most workplaces feel like if they are paying for your time, they can tell you what to do with it and a lot of people agree with that philosophy.

[Twisterdog]

I think tatoos, like anything else in this world, can be overdone.

I have five tatoos, but I can cover them all up simply by wearing pants and a tank top.

There is a young man who works at Burgr King here. He has "PITBULL" tatooed around his neck in two-inch-tall old English letters. It is horrific to say the least.

[critter crazy]

Uggghhhh....I cannot stand crap like this?? Wht dont we just move to freaking Iraq or wherever and cover our bodies from head to toe in clothing, and all look the same??? I thought the whole purpose of being an american was to be an individual!! I love my tats, and I would ever cover them up for a damn Job! If you dont like them then dont look!! I would rather be unemployed, than have to cover up my body art!!! how does having a tattoo interfere with being a firefighter or a police officer?? Do they prevent them from getting the job done?? I think not!! Most firefighter and cops, have a military background. It is pretty much like a rite of passge in the military, when you get a tat, and there is always meaning behind it. So we are to deny someone like a soldier, the honor of Displaying something that they got while serving our country?? I find it utterly rediculous!! What about these men that Get tats to memorialize fallens friends??? How disrepectful is it to ask someone to cover up a memorial to a dead friend and commrade?? Things like this make me wonder what it realy is to be an american! I think we all have lost a grasp on that concept!!

[Twisterdog]

I would rather be unemployed, than have to cover up my body art!!!

And that is certainly your right to do so.

However, it is also an employer's right to decide that excessive tatoos, piercings, etc. conflict with the image of their company, and not hire you.

I really can't see someone with dozens of visible tatoos finding employment as an accountant, banker, attorney, etc.

To each their own ... your right to get as many tatoos as you want, and an employers right not to hire you. Our rights and our freedoms must be extended to everyone equally.

[critter crazy]

I really can't see someone with dozens of visible tatoos finding employment as an accountant, banker, attorney, etc.

Sounds like discrimination to me. We all have a right tour own opinions, but we also have the right to be treated equally no matter what we look like!! Just because you have tats, does not mean you can not do a job well!

[DJFyrewolf36]

Sounds like discrimination to me. We all have a right tour own opinions, but we also have the right to be treated equally no matter what we look like!! Just because you have tats, does not mean you can not do a job well!

Sadly that isn't how people think.

Businesses have to caclulate public perception into their finances. If people are offended by seeing someone with excessive body art at an esbablishment, then they'll complain to others and soon you wont have any customers. Word of mouth can destroy a business quickly.

With public service agencies, they have to factor in how the public sees them because if the public doesn't trust them, it makes the job they are doing much harder.

Is it right to discriminate based on looks? No, I don't think so. However, humans will always be this way. We rely a lot on what our eyes tell us, and sadly it isn't always the whole story.

Do I like covering my tattos or being mindful of where they are placed when I get them? No, not really. However, I understand why my employer would require me to cover them up. Some people just tend to go a bit overboard.

[Medusa]

The very first time I visited L.A. to see my son, we were standing in line somewhere (can't recall where) and there was a mother and daughter behind us. The conversation went something like this:

Daughter: I don't want a tatoo!
Mother: Well, you're getting one.
Daughter: I think they're ugly.
Mother: You're still getting one. And where people can see it. I want you to get it on your ankle. (Ouch!)

And it went on this way the entire time we were in line. At first, I thought it was a gag of some sort and I whispered to my son "Is this for real, ya think?" He said "I was wondering the same thing." If anything, I thought the daughter would be arguing that she wanted a tat and her mother would be arguing against it. I didn't have the guts to butt in because it really wasn't any of our business but they talked about it loud enough for us to hear so maybe they wouldn't have minded but I just didn't want to start something. They both were clearly agitated.

[Cataholic]

Sounds like discrimination to me. We all have a right tour own opinions, but we also have the right to be treated equally no matter what we look like!! Just because you have tats, does not mean you can not do a job well!

Someone's claim of discrimination is very limited to those actions based on race, creed, colour, national origin, gender, famial status, etc. There is no claim of discrimination based on tatoo.

Your right to have a tatoo is on equal plain of an employer's right not to hire someone with a tatoo. Why should an employer be forced to hire someone anymore than you should be forced not to have/have a tatoo? Equal rights.

Let's say I want to talk trash/crudely to people that call the office. I want to say, as I pick up the phone, "What the hell do you want, lady"? Free speech, right? First Amendment issue, right? Of course not. My employer's right to govern my actions while at the work place is a legit concern, and my inability to follow protocol is reason to find my butt out of a job.

My argument that, "hey, this is just the way I talk"...is weak and ineffective. Sure, I have the "right" to talk like that, but it conflicts with my employer's right to have me speak in a professional and inoffensive tone.

What is inoffensive/professional to one, might be different to another. And, when it is the employer's business/financial wherewithall on the line, they are, most often, going to err on the side of conservative. Is it right? Well, it is to them.

Dress codes, grooming requirments, work requirements...all within the legal bounds of the employment arena.

I find it startling to consider that there are people every day that face true claims of discrimination on the basis of their skin colour, ethnicity, gender, sexual preference, religious convictions, etc., yet one would rather be unemployed than to cover up their tatoos.

[K9soul]

Something else to consider on the employment/dress code/tats covered issue. There are a lot of tats that make political or religious statements too, another no-no in a customer-service related business in which you are dealing with the public. An employer can tell me not to wear a shirt to work that says "Vote Obama!" etc., it is similar with requiring tattoos be covered. They cannot really take them on a case by case basis, there must be a general rule for all.

When I was a waitress I had to keep my hair a certain way and dress a certain way. It isn't discrimination, it's just that business's code. If I didn't want to dress that way or keep my hair that way, I was free to look for employment elsewhere that didn't require it. I think it is the same with businesses who have a "dress code" that includes body art displays.

[moosmom]

I have 4 tats that can only be seen if I'm nekkid, wearing a bathing suit or a tank top.

They are: A cat (of course!!), a heart with "Dad" in it, a purple/pink butterfly and a daisy with a ladybug on it. Non are offensive.

I've seen some of the tats people have that are way over the top. To the point where they don't need clothes!!