Lemme see ya grillz....Not in this Texas school district

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060711/ap_on_fe_st/grillz_earlobes

School district in Texas bans grillz and the "art" of gauging the ears.

 

I know schools are allowed to impose dress codes, but doesn't this go beyond that a bit? How do "grillz" or gauging distract students or endanger them? I don't see how they affect any students' ability to learn and I disagree with the decision to ban them. Seems like an uptight school board if you ask me.

 

"We're preparing them for the work force, and in the work force there are rules."

Pretty good point if you ask me.

 

There's no generic "work force" and it's not the job of the schools to inculcate kids with the values of corporate America. They'll find that stuff out soon enough and then they can decide if they want to play or not.

It's the same old tired stuff that's been going on since my oldest sister was in high school in the late 50's. Guys were banned from growing beards and wearing jeans. And then in the sixties it was the fight over girls not having to wear dresses or skirts.

Some little bureaucrat waving his dick.

 

If I'm interviewing two people for a job and they are of equal ability but one of them has more piercings than a pin cushion, guess which one I'm going to hire.

 

And probably if the pierced person was measurably more qualified you'd take the safe route and hire the "normal" one anyway. Just so you don't feel uncomfortable.

Right?

 

I"m sorry, where did I use the word normal?

I'm going to hire the best person for the job. If you're tatt'd or pierced to high heaven, and it's visible, you aren't the best person for the position I'm trying to fill. And that's got nothing to do with race, gender or orientation. If you look like a carny, expect to be treated like a carny.

 

Except there are different rules for working on Wall Street compared to working in an autobody shop. There are also different rules within a profession - a male doctor working from 9 to 5 might be expected to wear a tie while at a hospital or in their office because of expectations as a professional, but that probably wouldn't be the case on weekends and certainly wouldn't be the case in an emergency room or surgery. And if somebody is really good at the job, they probably could stay in their pajamas and work from a computer terminal for a Wall Street firm.

I understand what armchair qb is saying about equal ability, but the problem with basing a job selection on that is there is usually a difference with skills and if not, the type of personality which would fit a particular job or situation - if you leave it to clothes or appearance, I would suggest that a manager isn't making a real effort and is taking a lazy way out.

However, if there is some sort of health hazard or risk, the school should ban the things.

 

Who said the kid with the grillz or gauges or tats wants to work for you anyway?

It's up to the person to decide who they are going to be and they have to live with those decisions. They are free to do so at their own peril. It's not up to a high school to tell them who they should be. It's up to the high school to teach them that the decisions they make now may (or may not) have consequences for them down the road. And then let them make their own decisions.

I'm going to make a stereotype here, but it's based on personal observation. The people I've known who have gauged their ears fall into two categories: artists and/or stoners. Neither is going to be applying for jobs on Wall Street anytime soon. And the artists generally have had few, if any, problems with employers about how they look. It's more about what they create.

There are, obviously, other types of people who will gauge their ears or wear grillz. They may or may not run into employers who won't hire them based on their looks. And that's something they will have to deal with. It's not up to the school to tell them they can't do it.

 

So which are they, equally qualified as you originally posited or not equally qualified?

 

You didn't. That's why I used parentheses.

And why would a tattoed or pierced person not be the best person if he/she had better qualifications and/or more experience for the job in question?

On second thought, the guy would probably decide he doesn't want to work for you anyway.

 

If they're equally qualified I'm hiring the person who doesn't look like a carny.

If they aren't equally qualified the carny better be Stephen Fucking Hawking if he or she wants to get the job.

I could give a shit if you've got piercings or tatts all over your body. But if they're above the neck and they aren't earrings, you're out of luck.