Maf, that's great, but can you say that because of your experience, you truly believe that everybody has the same experience? There are not people out there who are flat out told they can't get a job if they have piercings, people who may get a job but the supervisors all view them differently because of it? I mean, I know lots of successful black men and women. But I don't fathom for a second just because I know it DOES happen that racism in the workplace doesn't exist.
People ARE prejudiced based on any number of things, and to believe otherwise really is living in a land of butterflies and rainbows. Hell, I was denied a job once because I'm an ATTRACTIVE WOMAN, God forbid. I certainly am not deluded enough to imagine that I don't have any number of factors working for or against me whenever I walk into a job interview, and most of them, like my sex, I can't help. Well I guess I could do what I can to make myself really ugly. That I suppose I could change. Oh no wait - but then that's ANOTHER factor that is going to work for or against me. Never mind.
I've worked several places where you can't have any facial piercings and you can only have one pair of earrings. I currently work somewhere that I can't dye my hair any unnatural shades - and in fact there's even stuff in the handbook about the appearance of cleanliness (dreadlocks are out, FYI, because they don't "look clean.") It's not some kind of imagined world where people have "hangs up" over piercings or whatever... it IS reality depending on your employer.
BP is taking the sensible view here and already said she wants it, so she's going to get it - if they tell her she can't have it, okay, she'll take it out. It's no big deal to be understanding of the fact that it might NOT be acceptable in all work environments and places of employment.
Luckily, that is far more easily changed than, say, skin colour or sex.
