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Nurse Writes Open Letter to Woman Claiming She Couldn’t Do Job Because of Her Hair
Mary Penney, a nurse, is fighting back after a cashier suggested she couldn’t do her job because she had brightly-colored hair and tattoos.
Penney penned a Facebook post on July 9 about her experience and it has since gone viral with over 141,000 shares.
It’s no secret that those with a lot of tattoos, piercings, or uncommonly-colored hair, still get passed up for job opportunities and unfairly judged because of their appearances, but Penney won’t stand for it.
In her post, she describes how the cashier noticed her name tag and asked what it was she does at the nursing facility. When Penney replied that she’s a nurse, the woman proceeded to say, “I’m surprised they let you work there like that. What do your patients think about your hair?”
The woman then turned to another woman waiting in line and asked her opinion on Penney’s hair.
Penney doesn’t say how or if she responded to these other women, but she does offer her own two cents:
“I can’t recall a time that my hair color has prevented me from providing life saving treatment to one of my patients. My tattoos have never kept them from holding my hand and as they lay frightened and crying because Alzheimer’s has stolen their mind. My multiple ear piercings have never interfered with me hearing them reminisce about their better days or listening to them as they express their last wishes. My tongue piercing has never kept me from speaking words of encouragement to a newly diagnosed patient or from comforting a family that is grieving.”
Read the full post below:
Even with all her body modifications, Penney is far from being in the minority. According to US News, one fifth of American adults had a tattoo in 2012, and if there is anything we can learn from current events, it’s that nobody should be judged based on appearance alone.