To Ink or Not To Ink....Is It a Question??

So, I know I haven't posted in a while. But as most of you know, I work two jobs, take care of a house, a husband, two cats, and a very large Chesapeake. Luckily, in a few days, I will only need to focus on ONE job, which will be very nice.

I would like to take a second to diverge from my usual posts about my struggles with conception to write about another interesting taboo.

Last week, the Morning Call printed a front page article about a college student from East Stroudsburg Univeristy (my alma mater x2), who applied for a job at Dorney Park, but was rejected because she had a tatoo on the back of her neck. This violated policy that stated that employees could not have tattoos on the face, hands, or neck. The girl went on to say that the policy is discrimination, that it is freedom of speech.

Now, as usual, the article wasn't the problem. It was the citizens of the Lehigh Valley and their opinions that made me upset. One poster said that she was a "tramp." Another called all people with tattoos "creatures." Another said that "something needs to be done about these people."

I am not going to write about my personal feelings on this issue. I would like readers to form their own opinions. But honestly, isn't calling someone with a tattoo a "creature" taking things a bit too far?

Of course, as most of you know, I do have three tattoos. When going to a professional interview, my tattoos are unseen. But even if they were, would that make me a bad person? My tattoos are very meaningful to me. One specifically commemorates my baby that I lost through miscarriage a few years ago. It is a celtic knot of motherhood...to remember that even though I did not hold my baby, I am still a mommy. I really don't feel as if that makes me a "tramp."

We all know that in the business world, it's all about how we view people. I would like to think that if my surgeon showed up in the operating room with full-arm ink, that I wouldn't be bothered...but we all know that might not be true.

We teach our children not to judge a book by its cover. But honestly...if I showed up at a bar on the back of my husband's motorcycle, wearing shorty-shorts and a tank showing off my ink, how many individuals would say...oh yea, she MUST have a master's degree?

Point is, we try to be objective when meeting people...but labels do exist. And I don't think that will ever change.

So, in the question of inking...I follow a golden rule. Nothing that can't be covered by a wedding dress.

Now I'm itching for a bike ride...pink helmet and all...