I have sinned

[Beardman]

Btw Voodoo, I like your goat and the grey adds charater, never colour it!   

Do you have a probationary period? If so wait till that is up then start growing your beard out again 

[VoodooSyxx]

Btw Voodoo, I like your goat and the grey adds charater, never colour it!   

Do you have a probationary period? If so wait till that is up then start growing your beard out again 

That's more than likely the plan. I'm a Linux Admin, so once I'm on the job it really doesn't matter how I look or dress or whatever. Computers don't really care. It's just that it happened to be that period between contracts where I have to look presentable and be part of the stupid dog and pony show for the corporate types. The full compliment of face whiskers will return in time, for sure.

[Beardman]

Btw Voodoo, I like your goat and the grey adds charater, never colour it!   

Do you have a probationary period? If so wait till that is up then start growing your beard out again 

That's more than likely the plan. I'm a Linux Admin, so once I'm on the job it really doesn't matter how I look or dress or whatever. Computers don't really care. It's just that it happened to be that period between contracts where I have to look presentable and be part of the stupid dog and pony show for the corporate types. The full compliment of face whiskers will return in time, for sure.

Atta boy, get back on that horse, screw the ponies

[Blitzed]

A Word From Management

Your attitude seems to suggest that you despise the company and are frosting them out of your own perceived necessities. I haven't a clue what a "Linux Admin." is but apparently the firm by which you are employed needs them. As a retired corporate excutive I can tell you that an employee who falsifies themself, resents the company for what wasn't asked of them and then claims some sort of moral foul isn't one who A. Wants the job, just the pay and B. Should find an employer who they feel can accept them as they are and not as they feel the company wants them. Unless there is some stated policy about beards, moustaches and goatees, then your desire to be "presentable" is more than suggestive that you do not feel you are. I realize this isn't the sort of "atta boy" answer you expect but it's an honesty on my part. You are certainly able to call me everthing but a bicycle and disagree but my attempt is to give you another viewpoint.

[Viking]

Although I understand the above, I think there are a lot of people who do just want the pay and not the job, I know that because I am one of them. I make no secret in the fact the only reason I do my job is for the money, I don't like or enjoy what I do, it is just something to pay the bills untill I can find a job that I would like to do.

I don't think the original poster is trying to mislead or trick potential employees, I just feel he reckons that having a neatly trimmed goatee would be more professional looking than a semi grown in full beard, and I'd agree and would do the same. Work isn't easy to come by these days so I see nothing wrong in trying to enhance your chances in the current market.

[VoodooSyxx]

A Word From Management

Your attitude seems to suggest that you despise the company and are frosting them out of your own perceived necessities. I haven't a clue what a "Linux Admin." is but apparently the firm by which you are employed needs them. As a retired corporate excutive I can tell you that an employee who falsifies themself, resents the company for what wasn't asked of them and then claims some sort of moral foul isn't one who A. Wants the job, just the pay and B. Should find an employer who they feel can accept them as they are and not as they feel the company wants them. Unless there is some stated policy about beards, moustaches and goatees, then your desire to be "presentable" is more than suggestive that you do not feel you are. I realize this isn't the sort of "atta boy" answer you expect but it's an honesty on my part. You are certainly able to call me everthing but a bicycle and disagree but my attempt is to give you another viewpoint.

Haha I'm certainly not going to call you anything or get sideways over your perspective brother. Just maybe some more explanation on my part is needed. I actually work for three different companies and contract my services to whichever has a need to fill for their clients. It's only occasionally that I have to interact in person with any of my recruiters. When I do, it's more of an unspoken rule of respect that when going into their more "corporate" type domain, the tats get covered as much as possible, the earrings get replaced with clear plugs, the stupid shirt and tie clothes come out and yes a half grown scraggly beard isn't exactly going to work. It's definitely no grudge I have against my employers or their environment. It just isn't my style and they are well aware of this. If any of them come around when I'm off the clock or at work doing my thing, and they have, they can expect  the earrings, all black clothes, probably unshaven face, tats, and headphones blasting death metal all day that would give them nightmares.

Bottom line is, I do my job very well. I love what I do, and my employers have a very real need for what I do. Our environments are just very different. There's no grudge or hostility involved. As long as my everyday work environment is understood and respected, theirs will be too.

[Beardman]

A Word From Management

Your attitude seems to suggest that you despise the company and are frosting them out of your own perceived necessities. I haven't a clue what a "Linux Admin." is but apparently the firm by which you are employed needs them. As a retired corporate excutive I can tell you that an employee who falsifies themself, resents the company for what wasn't asked of them and then claims some sort of moral foul isn't one who A. Wants the job, just the pay and B. Should find an employer who they feel can accept them as they are and not as they feel the company wants them. Unless there is some stated policy about beards, moustaches and goatees, then your desire to be "presentable" is more than suggestive that you do not feel you are. I realize this isn't the sort of "atta boy" answer you expect but it's an honesty on my part. You are certainly able to call me everthing but a bicycle and disagree but my attempt is to give you another viewpoint.

I think Voodoo covered pretty much what I wanted to say on the topic too, I'll just add that, I understand where you are coming from, and if he was changing other then appearance to re-secure his job I would agree wholeheartedly, but all he did is essentially have the customary shower and shave before his job interview to make himself look respectable and give himself the best chance of re-securing his job.

Would that be fair to say?

[Switchy]

He should ten hail marys and 3 our fathers .  And he will be fine !

[Rusty Shackleford]

I've been coping a bit of flack recently over my beard, it tends to happen from time to time. It's got to the point were some people have queried if I'd shave it off for money. I've set the price at $1000 to go clean shaven, no one has accepted the offer. People scoff until I explain the time and money invested in growing it to this length.

Would I actually shave it if I was presented with that money... I honestly couldn't say, but I know it would still take some arm twisting.

Ooh you may have screwed yourself with that because $1000 Australian is a feasible amount of money for someone to cough up, especially if someone gets it into their head that they could use your beard to raise $1000 for some sort of charity.  It's not unheard of for someone at a hair-cutting charity event to raise an amount like that especially if there is something unusual about that hair.  Worst part about it, you'd be guilted into shaving for some homeless blind orphans and wouldn't even get to keep the money!  

The one time since I was about 19 that I have shaved my beard was when I was forced too for work, they quoted it was in the rules, but wouldn't show me where it was. I fought them on it for months, but one day I was sent home from work before my shift started, and at the time I was young, and needed the money to get to uni, and really it came to the point it didn't feel worth losing ym job over. So I shaved it off. That day I told them once they saw me clean shaven that I was utterly embarrassed and we were going to have to come to some kind of agreement, on and there was the part about me being totally furious and refused to talk to anyone for the rest of my shift (was sent home to shave then return to work).

You were young.  That kind of stuff happens.  At that age people probably view the employer / employee dynamic as the same thing as a parent / child dynamic and therefore surrender to unreasonable demands.  One of the benefits of getting old, I mean real old like nearly 40, is that I'm getting a better appreciation for what is and what is not appropriate behavior for others to impose onto me.  I'm no longer a kid and therefore do not need to surrender to some manager's pathetic quest for dominance.  If you "follow the rules" you'll go insane because I've heard it all:

"You have to wear a tie!"
"You can't shave your head!"
"You can't grow a beard!"
"You can't wear white pants after Labor Day! [Aussie tutorial: That's the holiday that informally ends summer in the US]"  

Those are all rules of life I was instructed to believe at some point, all are nonsense, some have fallen out of popularity, and that's basically the order I abandoned them once I decided to grant my own opinions the priority over things that directly impact my life (yes the white/light colored pants thing is recent).    

It's funny because with each one I literally consciously became aware of the decision and decided I was not going to go back on it.  I'm looking forward to the moment some "professional" at an unprofitable company tries to tell me that I do not fit the nebulous, undefinable definition of professional.   Businesses are in business to make money and the role of a professional is to make more money not to go off on a power trip playing mommy by telling their employees to go home and shave.

Now that I look back on it, I probably really should have done them from discrimination or work place bullying, something like that, and made a packet off them. But as a 23-24yo university student, I personally didn't have that kind of money.

A lawsuit wouldn't have done anything because you are just a guy, now if you had been a woman suing because she was told to trim her long, ugly fingernails then you'd have owned the place!  

 

Anyways, the agreement we came to is that I could grow my facial hair however I wanted as long as I supplied my own beard net, and that it didn't interfere with my work. So I refused to work any more customer service shifts, and stayed in the kitchen.

I don't think I would have any problems with wearing a net, hell I roll mine up most of the time anyway, but my big problem is when someone thinks they can dictate permanent changes in me.  When it comes to things I can correct at the end of the day I'm pretty flexible, except I hate ties and won't wear them on even a temporary basis.  Stupid, goofy looking things... I mean, seriously, who thought it was a good idea to wrap a rope around the neck for fashion?

[VoodooSyxx]

Great post Rusty. I do have to throw in my two cents here though. White pants have never been a good idea, regardless of the season. IJS

[Beardman]

My sister has already racked up a couple of hundred dollars for her head shaving venture for our local head shaving event, so $1000 is definitely not that threatening, all depends on how badly someone wanted to see me clean shaven haha. But yes, I could definitely have put my foot in it, especially if I do take my sister upon the offer, unfortunately she has planted a seed in my mind, and it is for a worthy enough cause to actually do it...

Thanks for the tutorial, I was just going to smile and nod I can understand why you would have stopped following all those rules! Especially the white pants rule, not that I would wear white pants EVER, but it sounds like a ridiculous rule....

I think you are right about the lawsuit thing, although back then I did have a decent set of manboobs going on... thankfully those days are over!

I had no problem wearing a net and suggested that I would wear one as soon as the problem arose, the store manager was just trying to stamp her authority I think. That and I believe I used the phrase "I have no problem wearing a beard net if you supply one"

Haha, I've seen much worse things worn in the name of fashion then a tie! Having said that, I really can't understand how anyone could have thought it was a good idea originally...

[Rusty Shackleford]

Great post Rusty. I do have to throw in my two cents here though. White pants have never been a good idea, regardless of the season. IJS

Wow, what's with all the hate for white pants?   

Keep in mind that I'm a total guy when it comes to style and view the world in the old Windows 4-bit color palette, so I don't really mean white but my brain is forced to call it that since I am limited to acknowledging the existence of only the following colors: 


Pure white pants really are a bit too much for me, and when I mean white I'm really talking about something just really light in color kinda brownish kinda whitish but not really light grayish... you know, that kind of color LOL.  See?  That's just further proof that my eyes see the world in 4-bit color!  I don't know if anyone ever saw Mr. Blandings Builds His Dreamhouse, but that guy ordering the paint was very much me!

[Sly Red]

The rule is actually 'white is allowable from Memorial Day (end of May) to Labor Day (first Monday in September)'.

There's nothing wrong with pure white pants, other than the fact that they get dirty so easily!


1974 Raleigh Professional by Sly Red, Chicago, on Flickr

[Rusty Shackleford]

I don't like pants in general because of the way they restrict and insulate the legs, but wearing them is still one of those things I will conform to when someone wants to flex their authority since I can undo it easily on my own time.  Since I hate jeans (too thick & rigid) I was limited to my brown pants and black pants.  It's stupid but after watching so much Dexter I realized that there was this entirely new 3rd option that I had been subconsciously ignoring for years due to the rule on the acceptable time for wearing them.  It was actually quite liberating getting and wearing a pair of light colored pants.  


BTW: Typo on my part.  White pants can only be worn after Memorial Day and before Labor Day.  So basically the rule is they can only be worn in the summer.

I had no problem wearing a net and suggested that I would wear one as soon as the problem arose, the store manager was just trying to stamp her authority I think. That and I believe I used the phrase "I have no problem wearing a beard net if you supply one"

That's it exactly.  More often than not these kinds of rules are simply someone with authority getting pleasure out of exploiting that power onto another, and that's why when you pin them down and ask why they can't really give you an answer of substance because there is no substantive answer available.  Oftentimes the "gotta know when to pick your battles" rule comes into play and it's just easier to go along to get along, but the older I get I find I have less and less tolerance with people getting out of line by dictating things that are not theirs to dictate.

[Rusty Shackleford]

The rule is actually 'white is allowable from Memorial Day (end of May) to Labor Day (first Monday in September)'.

There's nothing wrong with pure white pants, other than the fact that they get dirty so easily!

I didn't catch that until I wrote a response to Beardman.  It actually went into a post that was being written when you wrote yours!  (And I did correct my error in the original post too)

That's the main reason why white pants are too much because they would be dirty so easily.  I mean I wouldn't stand a chance making it to lunch in those!  I at least need my clothing to be dark enough to match the color of your typical stain  I stopped wearing white sneakers too.