Imagine hearing the words “Sorry, we don’t hire people with tattoos,” or “Sorry, you have to change your hair and clothing style to work for me.” Even though people have the credentials and the experience, they’ll have to change the way they look to get the job. People all over the world have discussed this topic for years, but it has been brought to the masses yet again. Is professionalism finally going to be equal for everyone?
On August 5, Curiosity (the robot from NASA) landed on Mars. However, that story was just as popular, if not less, than one of the men behind the landing. His name is Bobak Ferdowsi, and he is a young man who works for the high class science workplace, NASA. After photos surfaced of him, people started to question the works of NASA. Bobak has many tattoos and a blue and red dip-dyed Mohawk, and around work he is better known as “Mohawk Guy.”
After seeing these photos of Bobak, some not-so-nice comments started flowing in from people all around the US. One of these comments stated “Why does this delinquent looking man get to work at NASA?” Even though this man has received some negative feedback, some of the comments have been rather outstanding. President Obama even commented on his appearance by saying “You [employees at NASA] are a little cooler than you used to be.”
According to the LA Times, Bobak has commented on the situation as well and says that “If my Mohawk gets a few more people excited about science and this mission, that’s awesome.”
Freshman Jessy Demarco also loves the idea of people being able to look the way they want at work by saying “They should have a choice in how they look no matter where or what they’re working as.”
Sophomore Kadin Daigle said “Why would you want to see a crazy hair tattooed man in a work place? They should be way more polished.”
Another incident has come to the masses recently about a man who has sleeves of tattoos, but is a doctor. His name is Dr. David Ores, and a photo of him came out on the Internet with two photos of him side by side. One of these pictures was of Dr. Ores in a white doctor jacket with his tattoos covered, and the second picture was of him in jeans and a sleeveless top with all his tattoos showing. The caption under the picture said “Watch what you say-that ‘psycho’ could save your life.”
The photo was very moving to lots of people, and the message really hit home with lots of workers who looked differently than other people. Sophomore Brandon Chin also is fond of the idea of people changing professionalism by saying “Just because they look different doesn’t mean they don’t have the same professionalism as others.”
All in all, it seems like the world of professionalism is changing whether people want it to or not. For some, this is a dream come true, and for others, not so much. Nowadays though, it seems like most people won’t have a problem with what’s on the outside, because what they’re really looking for is on the inside.