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#57800 10/21/05 08:45 AM
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 129
H
hypress Offline OP
Member
I went to a trade association meeting last night and some students where there and that is a good thing KO. However I would like to know how some of these students think they are going to get a job. Between earings bodyart and wearing a hardware store on their face I just dont know how a contractor could turn onr of them loose on an unsuspecting customer. Please tell me that there are some ALL AMERICAN BOY NEXT DOOR types that want to be tradesmen.

#57801 10/21/05 09:15 AM
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 8,443
Likes: 3
Member
Hypress,
Ever heard the saying "Don't judge a book by it's cover"?.
One of the best Faultsmen we have here at my workplace, has a nose ring and a wealth of tat's.
He is the most dependable guy we have, not only has he done 2 apprenticeships (1 as an Electrician and the other as a Lineman) but he came in as Apprentice of the Year in 1999, out of all the other guys in NZ.
Sure, first appearances might mean something.
I'd sooner the work (and the quality of it) did the talking.
Within a Line Crew on Live 22 or 33kV lines he takes his nose-ring out, I'd entrust my life with this guy, I've worked with him a number of times.
That is what matters to me.
I've got a couple of rings in my left ear, but does that colour me as a bad person?.
I think to a degree, that this is nothing short of a stereotype, just as long hair or wearing your cap backwards does.


[This message has been edited by Trumpy (edited 10-21-2005).]

#57802 10/21/05 09:16 AM
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 7,520
P
Member
Back when I worked for the phone company there was an engineer from the local exchange who had been given a new apprentice. This was in the 1980s during the time when certain groups decided that Mohican haircuts with spikes and red/green stripes were "cool."

As the engineer said, "He's actually quite pleasant and friendly, but how could I send him to knock on some old lady's door to work on her phone? She'd faint or scream as soon as she saw him!"

#57803 10/21/05 09:20 AM
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 156
R
Member
Hey, they issued me tattoo's when I joined the Navy [Linked Image]

I have ten of them right now and I worked my way up from production electrician to engineering to PLC programming.

However one of them is a tattoo of an Irish wedding band (less conductive than gold), so if it becomes a safety issue that is one thing. I have seen more fingers stripped to the bone by rings than noses or ears or lips taken off by rings in those places.

It's whats between the ears that counts.

#57804 10/21/05 09:32 AM
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 1,064
D
Member
hypress has a good point in my eyes.

I wouldn't send a tattoed, nose ringed individual out to service my customers. Not a chance.

Appearance is part of business, you have to look the part. A well groomed individual portrays an better imagine than that of the above.

There is nothing wrong with having yourself tattoed, or wearing a nose ring and chain that extends to your wallet, but not here.

Jewerly is forbidden by me anyhow, no chains, earrings at all. Watch is the only exception, with a leather band.

You have a right to express yourself. Don't get me wrong, but if you want to show all your tattoes and nose rings, join the NBA.

If they stay completely covered, I'd think about it.....

Dnk.........

#57805 10/21/05 12:43 PM
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 26
W
Member
Hi all,

Guess I might get called wierd. But I'm 17, don't have any piercings or tattoos and I wear t-shirts an jeans 90% of the time ( and the jean acually fit, no 60 yards of denim.)

The only jewlery I wear is a watch (if you call a $18 casio jewlery [Linked Image] ).

I have no problem with the way other people dress, I'm just a country boy, dressed country. [Linked Image]

Sam


Samuel A Mercure
#57806 10/21/05 01:50 PM
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 615
J
Member
What's on the inside is what matters most, but it doesn't mean that what's on the outside doesn't matter at all. If what's on the outside truly didn't matter, that would play counter to the whole point of adorning oneself anyway. I have always been perplexed by the person who will go out of their way to make themselves not blend in with the people around them, and then give an attitude like "what are you looking at?" Or the person who when asked about a tatoo will tell you "that's personal man". If it's so personal, why did you permantly stamp it in ink for the world to see? The parts of my body that are personal, I keep clothes over. I think there are some legitimate conclusions (though very general) that can be drawn from looking at the outside.

I have no problem with a decorated individual. When dealing directly with the public, however, keeping it toned down and/or covered is well within reason when running a business.

#57807 10/21/05 02:00 PM
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 54
B
Member
Hypress,
i have abit of a problem then, as the CEO and major shareholder within the company i work for. i have no piecings, any were but i do sport rather long hair a beard and i have tattoos up both mu arms, i am also over 17 and a half stone ( dont know what that is in the old money !) and i dont have any problems with my clients.

if the client only sees the outside of an operative that is quite sad, as the only people we employ are good fully qualified and trustworthy staff.

i do not and will not judge a person for how they dress.

but sometimes i do kinda find it funny when some of our new clients get to hear of me and then they say, `you dont look that scary really`!!!

it does make me chuckle!!!!

i was always taught to express myself, and that is what i do, in every thing i do.

and i also ride a Harley Heritage Softtail!!!

Britspark

#57808 10/21/05 02:44 PM
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 1,273
T
Member
Employees in retail contact positions have to be acceptable to the customers that are paying the bill; The customer is the core of your sales organization. _They_ create your street reputation; not your troops.

Satisfaction is subjective. Performing a great job technically is simply not enough. That's why a total performance whiz who none the less insulted the customers would be canned.

Now, it is quite another thing in all of the non-retail, low customer contact positions in the trade. Yeah, then the 'illustrated man' can sport his skin.

My only apprentice with staggering metal and ink was very highly regarded by the company. So much so that he was being slotted into independent work with an eye to being a foreman. Unfortunately, he flunked every task I set him on: momentary contact switches, making up emergency lights within pendant strip fixtures. Just terrible.

He stands as proof that there is no connection one way or the other with body art and getting the job done.

Image, stories, connections, 'reputation' within the company don't mean anything. Actual performance is all: I have to see it to believe it even with high time journeymen. Oh, the stories I could tell on them!


Tesla
#57809 10/21/05 03:02 PM
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 42
A
Member
[puts on pseudo-intellectual hat (also known as the beer hat)]

Body tatoo's and piercings are primitive and barbaric IMO.

Their popularity everywhere is additional evidence of a slide into decadence for the Western world or at least the "American Empire".

[takes off pseudo-intellectual hat]

[Linked Image]

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