Dreds and Jobs

Thank you, Aquamarine, for that enlightened post...

 

yes, same here aquamarine

 

i have dreads, and they did cause me some problems. i moved away for a couple of months, and when i came back with dreads, my old job was hesitant about giving me a it back. i had been a manager befroe i left, but when i came back and wanted my job back, they put me in distribution where i got to ship stuff out all the time. i got pissed because they told me they didn't need my helap anymore, they were going to hire someone full time for my managers job, and he needed to train them full time. now i work at a kick ass pizza place waitng tables, and i work at hot topic. they both pretty much suck, but i'm also a massage therapist, and that evens it out a bit.
just be strong and stand behind your decision to dread your hair. it's a committment, an art statement, and a lifestyle. the right job will find you, if you keep your eyes open.

 

i want to get dreads and was worried about this so i asked my supervisor. conversation went like something like this:
me: if i were to dreadlock my hair could i be fired?
super (who is older and harsh scottish): dreadlock? whats that?
coworker: you make twisty knotty strands
me: you know, like bob marley?
super: who?
coworker: like hippies, you know who don't wash their hair
me: they wash it! just... not everyday...
super:well, i'm not sure. why don't you do it on your day off and when you come in we'll see...
coworker: well, uh, see, thats the problem, if it isn't ok she has to shave her head...
super: YOU"RE CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!!!

her assistant said that as long as i keep them neat and presentable and not all matty it would be ok.

 

i have locks and i work the front desk/cash register/customer assistance type position at a video store/take out food place. my boss never had a problem with it. i've worked there off and on for about 3 years and didn't have locks when i first started, but when i started 'em, i got no complaints. it's awesome, though. i get these 60 year old backwoods vermont redneck men coming in who will look at my hair for WEEKS before they get the courage to ask questions. so i'm always super friendly and do the whole "yes i wash my hair, no i can't comb them out..." thing and then let them feel my hair. it's hillarious. a crew of old rednecks feelin' my locks going "well god damn......i never knew...." they'll even bring in their friends to check out my hair! cracks me up every time. i went off on a huge tangent, but my point is....even with locks, you can usually find a job that will suit you and you'll have no problems. you just might have to do a little more searching than most people.

 

I have a very hard time around here where I'm currently at.... just south of ATL and it sucks. I think I'm gonna have to move to ATL full time if I want to keep a job.

I always get stares but the only ones that ever ask about them are black girls.

Its always the same thing:

Is that your real hair?

Can I touch it?

Do you wash it?

How did you get your hair to do that?

How long did it take?

ect...ect...


Its OK of course but its only the black girls that ask.

 

dreads are fun

 

i have similar thought on different issues such as dye, facial piercings and various different haircuts lol tryin to get a kitchen job so no-one cares and pllus i cant stand workin at my current job

 

as long as you keep the dreads neat (you can do natural ones, just put them up in a ponytail as neatly as possible) when you go for an interview it shouldnt be a problem at all. It also depends on the company. Basically if you look well groomed with dreadies, no biggie. If you look like a scumbag with dreadies they wont hire you. Its all about the rest of the appearance as well. I had dreads for a while and worked for a retail corporation in one of the stores. They pulled me aside when i got em and basically said keep them neat, dont change your appearance completely, and its not a problem.

 

i have been maintaining my dreds and they are pretty well neat. the thing is if you are rastafarian then it is discrimination of religion. i study buddahism but do not want to shave my head. i read somewhere about rasta-buddahist so i am lookinginto that.

 

they will discriminate....
i got crazy hair... afro like.. its starting to get long enough where it starts to lay down after a few days of not washing it...
they dont hire me...
you could tie it up ... in a bandana or like a sikh type wrap thing... ya dig??

 

yeah, that is what i do usually do. i work around food so i have to keep my hair up

 

I am dying to have dreadies, but I am a little hesitant because of how people will react...and more than that...the job issue. Right now, I am a college student. I may become a massage therapist and I know that building clients is very important. If I have dreads, I might not have clients...heck, I might not even get accepted to the school I might be applying to. WHAT SHOULD I DO???

 

i got arrrested once for not having car insurance and they said they were going to have to cut the beads out of my dreads because they were a possible weapon. I told them I was RastaFari and they said, "look, you cut them off or we will." so i did it. so sucky. they only could keep me for 3 days. 3 days of hell and no more dreads. it was a really bad time of my life....


fuk the man


as far as work goes. Im a freelance photographer and web designer etc. my career doesnt really seem effected by my hair. my grandfather died worrying that I wouldnt be able to make a living with my dreads and tattoos. he had a hard time understanding that I would never want the kind of job that restricted the style, color etc of my appearance. It just goes against my grain. My creativity cannot be contained. Its a fact. I have to have work where my creative outbursts are celebrated. but thats just me.

 

Aquamarine.. i'd just like to say that braids and locks arent traditionally african/carribean. Going right back Locks are natural to all humans an animals. Its only the societies which have classed them as such. sorry i just had to clear that up :S

Umm and as for getting a job, i used to work in a record stroe.. i applied with giant purple wool wraps. In the time i worked there i have various different types of braids and wraps and then i cut on side of my head into a bob and left the otherside long and would do crazy stuff to the longer side. Then i cut the back of my hair all spikey and left the front longer and did braids and stuff in the front.. then i had short hair and two massive fake uv dreads at the front (like antenai) but i was lucky because the store was a really easy going place. I now work for Gadget shop and again they have no problem with my piercings or dreads. anywhere who will disscriminate against you because of the way you look isnt worth working for.
you need to have mental and physical freedom to be who YOU want to be not who they want you to be ..else you will never be happy.

 

i'm gonna be applying for a job at the cinema this week and apparently they are really relaxed so i hope they don't have a problem with my dreads. wooo. (fleassy i'll have some pics up soon! )
jaz

 

I was able to get a full time position as a front desk agent in a lodge at a ski resort while I had dreads. I had dreads when I applied for the job, I just tied them back into a bun or wore a classy scarf wrapped around my head. It took them months to realise that I had dreads, and that was only after my supervisor saw me in a social setting where I was wearing them loose. I know a few dread locked people that have well paying jobs in an office/corporate
enviroment. They just do as I did; keep them neat and tidy and hide them at work. Good luck!

 

My good friend is a public school teacher in Philadelphia and her dreads must be way past her hips now. She wears them wrapped in public. When they're that long, that gets heavy, though. She is a rasta, a TTOI member, and an excellent teacher, I am sure. She's great with kids. She definitely had dreads before she got this job.

 

If you're a massage therapist with dreads you might even get more clients. I met a massage therapist with dreads.

I think that if you keep yourself neat and clean the dreads are not as much of an issue.

With dreads I have worked in restaurants, including a fantastic vegetarian one where they liked me partly because of my dreads, which I keep covered in public anyway. I also worked in day-care centers, though, for a long time.

My mother has dreads and she teaches at a high school and a college.

 

yeah i was worried about the same thing... and also with school and performances and such. i want to let them grow naturally (once my hair gets long enough), but i know it;s gonna me knappy as hell, and i don't want my professors to give me shit about it.