It’s fucking hard to get a job in this city if you happen to have dreadlocks.
If you walk into places with a resume and dreads, you never hear back. You can’t even fucking work at McDonalds with dreadlocks.
Nevermind that they are equal opportunity employees. They will give anybody a chance – be they black, white, latino, asian, male, female — unless they have dreadlocks.
The only exception to this is if a location is desperate for workers; and then the employee will never get any more than mandatory pay raises and NEVER a promotion.
I know what people are gonna say. “Cut them off.”
Well, fuck you. I shouldn’t have to cut off my dreadlocks. I like them. They look good on me. I don’t have an assortment of random jewelery, string or objects in them. One of them, in the back, has a single bead that practically blends in with my hair color.
They’re clean — I wash my hair every single day. There is no reason why I shouldn’t be given a chance just because I have a certain hairstyle.
But McDicks isn’t the only place.
Convenience store? fuck you. You had a goddamn help wanted sign up when I applied and I never heard from you. Four fucking months later you’ve got the same goddamn help wanted sign up, and I even brought up my application once or twice. Nothing.
Video store? I keep odd sleeping habits. I’m writing this at 6am, having been up all yesterday, still wide awake. I applied for your graveyard shift because, according to your fucking help wanted signs, you need a worker or two.
You piss me off the most. Not a word back from you, and I fucking love movies. I would love to work there. Your help wanted sign is still fucking up, but nothing. I can’t even accuse you of not giving me a chance because of my dreadlocks — you’ve got a guy there with some epic dreads going. So what’s the damned problem?
I’m not gonna list everywhere, but believe me, the list is long — and I’m fucking pissed off.
So, to all you employers out there: SMARTEN THE FUCK UP. Discrimination isn’t always about skin color or gender.
This article appears in Jan 17-23, 2008.
I totally see your point. It is absolutely insane that people still discriminate against silly things like hair and piercings. I have a nose pin and I get people telling me to take it out for job interviews and other important things. I always refuse. It’s a freakin’ nose pin! The same as other people have their ears pierced! Gah – it pisses me off royally. A very popular coffee chain will not let people work there is they have any piercings or hair dyed a non traditional color. I have a friend who worked there and she had hot pink stripes in her hair and wanted to pierce her lip but couldn’t because she would have lost her job. The only reason she was able to keep her pink hair is because the damn visor covered it up. I can’t even believe that places can do that! I bet they didn’t mind the person with blonde highlights or dyed brown hair! GRRRRRRRRRRR!Keep your dreadlocks! I’m sure there are employers out there who don’t discriminate… Now… if only we could find them….
Just to be a shit: Maybe your resume sucks.
In order for you to clean your dreads, you have to unravel them… So it is impossible for you to do it everyday because that would mean you do nothing BUT clean and make up your hair everyday.Face it, if you are in retail you are all about your image, and the image that the company wants to convey. Think of your hair or piercings as part of the uniform.Would I trust someone with more piercings or a tattoo on their face to deal with my food? FUCK NO!If you can’t conform to the job… Well, then they don’t want you. How hard is that? You want the job, there are enough people in the city to pick and choose. And if you feel your “personal identity through your appearance” is more important than working then keep the unemployed dream alive.Integrity only goes so far and then your hunger kicks in.People have this thing called preconceived conceptions about an individual. If you look like a goddamn hippie loser then you will be treated like one.That’s reality, and all that bo-bo-shanty shit you are practicing would make you a peanut vendor.Why do you want to sell burgers when you already sell dope anyhow is beyond me… Unless you are using McDonalds as a front to justify your income, which isn’t such a bad idea actually…
Gimpysavior is an asshole, or certainly seems like one here. As if all people with dreads are pot dealers. Pull your fucking argyle sweater down off your face, you fucking idiot..it’s blocking your sight.
Blowers St. Paperchase has an employee with dreadlocks and several piercings – he’s a sweetheart and I have NO problem dealing with him because of his appearance. Gimpysaviour’s assumption he is a pot dealer just shows how myopic and bigoted he is. People fear what they don’t understand.
OMG Leo and I actually agree on something…other than that we both have a hate on for each other (well hate is a strong word, but Bitch page hate).
What’s wrong with argyle?
Did you have a job before you had the dreads? If so, then cut the fuckers off, can’t see what the problem is. Yes, society “should” be a certain way, but as you’ve discovered, it’s not and you’re going to either comform to what employers want, go into business yourself, or get in the fuckin’ welfare line. Lots of choices, you have to be willing to bend a little. Something tells me that you’re not highly educated, as it’s apparent you’re not looking for high end work. Maybe going back to school, learning a skill that is in demand is your ticket. Your resume should speak for itself, and if I were an employer, reading that should convince me you’re the man for the job, not your fucking hairdoo. Obviously you need to work on something, and your hair should be the last of your worries.
Does your attitude come across during the interview or in your resume?
Seriously, dude. If I could get away with it, I’d have my hair six different colors and my body pierced so much it would set detectors off. I had to come to the realization that I can’t. Society isn’t going to bend to your will. I doubt it’s the hair, anyways. You seem like you have a major “stick it to the MAN!” attitude.
Welcome to the real world, you can’t be punk as fuck and expect to get the jobs you want. You’ve gotta conform. Rage against the machine all you want but don’t complain about something you can change. Its not like they won’t hire you because of your ethnicity. People judge you right away based on appearance, its not fair but its human nature. Every mammal is constantly looking at objects, people and situations and making split second judgments. We all come to a point where we cave to pressure and change our appearance to fit our employment situation. You know the people that don’t have to? Tattoo artists and pot dealers.Oh and dreads do fucking stink, it’s your stink so of course you don’t notice.you could get a government job and *then* grow them out.
Awww, what a sin- you are discriminated against because you CHOOSE to maintain a particular hairstyle. Who the hell do you think you are to equate “discrimination” against your lame ass hairstyle with racism and sexism? You have a choice- people who are victims of racism, sexism, homophobia, etc. do not. By equating your pathetic pseudo-hippy hairstyle with those who endure real struggle just show everyone how much of a self-centered, pathetic asshole you really are. Maybe that’s what’s coming across in your resume- not your dirty, trendy hair. Just think of how privledged you are that in order to not be discriminated, against all you need to do is cut off your stupid dreads, you spoiled brat!
I had dreadlocks for five years and I just cut my puppys off. Ive had a job the whole time ive had them. Except I worked in call centres (and made good money) Funny thing is, now I work in a tattoo shop, and I have cut off my dreads. Not by choice. My scalp was dying. Ha.Good luck 🙂
And half the people in these comments are assholes and sit behind their comptuer screen, looking for someone to insult and make them feel better about their insecurities. Just laugh at em. Its funny.
Why do you say that? Due to the fact that we realized that in order to be taken seriously, you have to have your appearance to some sort of standard? Or is it because we won’t “rage against the machine”, as one poster put it? I’m all for raging, but let’s face one cold hard fact: the system is there because nobody can change it. It’s been attempted. It failed. I fail to see how dude has insecurities. He’s pretty sure in his opinion that dreads are awesome. Yeah… sounds like insecurity to me…
You can “SAY” it is not the case, however, the dreadlock is a religious statement.It signifies that one believes in their strength and live as on of the chosen of Jah. As one of the chosen they CHOSE to be an outsider and be one with nature and try to be self sufficient. And here is the fact that many fakers neglect to take note of. The main way to be one with Jah is to partake in one of his chosen plants. Meaning weed is a part of the fucking religion.So, if you have dreads, then you are a soilder of Babylon and as such you smoke weed, are a vegetarian, and live off the land with MINIMAL interaction with the outside world that refuses to be enlightened by the way of Jah.I am sure many employers understand this fact, unlike many of the posters here aparantly.To be accepted you have to make an attempt to be acceptible.And about the remark of me being bigoted.I COME from that society, and seeing this mockery makes me more mad than anything.People fucking around with things they don’t understand and then have the GALL to say that I am biggoted because they smear an entire way of life for several COUNTRIES because they think it is ‘cool’.FUCK YOU YOU ENTITLED SACK OF SHIT YOU DON’T KNOW SHIT ABOUT THE WAY AND AS SUCH YOU SHOULD CUT THOSE FUCKING LOCKS NOW AND CONFORM TO YOUR SOCIETY!If you want to be a worker, you can’t be a Rasta so shut the fuck up you hypocrite.
My suggestion is to hit the call centres. They always seem desperate for fresh victims … errr …. bodies. The only interaction w/ customers is over the phone so the dreds should be less of an issue.Some job hunting advice; just because you have dropped a resume off somewhere that doesn’t mean your work is complete. Have you followed up with management about the position and/or your resume? Have you dropped off multiple resumes? I have hired people and have been hired myself simply because an impression has been made that there is strong interest in the position. If your not doing that or your not getting interviews then it’s quite possible your resume needs some work too. There are plenty of free resources available to help you build your resume and prepare for interviews.Good luck!
Call centres are wonderful things – they don’t involve face to face with the public – unlike retail or restaurants for example – and they pay above minimum wage.
wow there is alot of backwards inbred trash on this forum- I have a teacher at my high school who wears long dreads and shes one of the best teachers I have ever had. She actually taught us about her dreads one time and told me that people have came up to her telling her that she looks like a big pot smoker but Miss has never smoked pot. Just because you want to be slightly more individual then the rest of the sheep doesn’t meen you should be discriminated against.
Zac, maybe that teacher should have concentrated more on your fucking reading comprehension. Employers look at the outside first, particularly when dealing with the public, and most employers aren’t willing to tolerate what is considered a “wild” hairdoo by their standards. The question isn’t what fuckin’ doo a person has AFTER they’re hired, it’s getting a fuckin’ job in the first place. If you look like a wannabe fuckin’ Jamacian and the employer doesn’t think it “suits” their needs, you’re passed over. Notwithstanding that fact, a half assed failed attempt at getting a job by the author has resulted in him/her whining about it, but is unwilling to fucking change a bit to GET a job. once the author is WORKING in the job, then grow the fuckin’ things! Why this is such a fucking stretch for you to understand is beyond me. People have been giving, up to this point, tips and help, now with you calling people names it’s all gone to hell. Like it or not, discrimination is here, it’s extremely hard to prove and it sucks, but that’s the fuckin’ way it is, inbred backwards and all.
Think about it like this, a small business owner (obviously this doesn’t apply to your problem with mickee d’s) sees its employees as an extention of themselves, think of it in a marshall mcluan kina way, if an employer has a uncomfrotable THEIR business being represented by someone with a specific style, thats THEIR business. Feel free to start your own business and it is fully within your right to exclude cleanshaven and well dressed men or women. I won’t be a patron but thats because I don’t like being served by hippydippy no-bra wearin trustafarians who refer to me as ‘dude’, but hey, thats MY business.
Wow, did I ever screw that one up. Figure it out if you can…
Brad, why so aggressive all the time? Is there really a need to insult Zac’s reading comprehension in order to make your point?? The more I read by you, the more stupid and ignorant you seem.
For christ sakes, read the first fuckin’ line of Zac’s post will you? He insults everyone making posts here, and misses the points that were suggested by other contributers. In addition, look at the authors complaints, it’s obvious to me that it’s due to his rigid stance on his looks, and equally obvious that his hair is more important than his employment status. I wouldn’t call it aggression as much as frustration that people can’t get over themselves to make a living. I, and the majority of the population, had to make a lot of sacrifices to be successful, why do people like this just expect to be successful because they were born? It pisses me off, yes, and so do the bleeding hearts that coddle these people, they have to learn to get a grip. Finally, this section of the Coast is titled “BITCH”, so aggression is probably going to be forefront in its’ content. No one said you had to read what I write or agree with me.
No I’m not insulting everyone on this forum I just think theres alot of conservatives on this forum trying to cling to a old way of life which is just outdated. Styles are changing. cars are changing, the way we look at the environment is slowly changing. And nothing pisses me off more than somebody who thinks they are entitled to drive a SUV
Sorry man, can’t agree with you, depending on what you mean by styles. I wouldn’t consider myself conservative, but it’s obvious dreads aren’t the mainstream hairstyle choice. I do, however, agree with you about SUV’s. I don’t own one, don’t want one, and don’t agree with the single occupant commuters driving them, but it’s a free country, and people can do what they want, buy what they want and have their own opinions. The ONLY way the SUV craze is going to change is if the gov’t imposes a hefty tax on them, and/or gas prices start to take a chunk out of their wallets.