Why Image Is So Important

When a person goes to work he/she will wear a uniform of some kind or another. A doctor will wear scrubs, a businessman will wear a suit, and so on. What we wear and how we appear will represent who we are and what we do. In certain professional positions, there will always be a certain look or "uniform" necessary to maintain a certain image. One might ask, "Why does professionalism take on this particular image?" The major reason is that professionals want to gain the trust of the people they are working with and for. In a fast-paced world that runs on first impressions, it is important to not only maintain long-term trust, but to establish immediate trust by acting, speaking, and even appearing a certain way. The way people perceive tattoos is not something that can be changed overnight, although tattoos are growing in popularity. People often associate tattoos with rebellious teens, drunken rock stars, gang members, and prison inmates. So it is easy for people to make misconceptions of a person at the first sight of his/her tattoos. Imagine hearing a knock on your door, and a man from a sales company wanted to offer you an amazing deal on a new security system for you home and wanted to come inside to discuss further details. Imagine if this man's neck and face were covered with tattoos and he was wearing a sleeveless shirt, making visible the sleeves of tattoos on each arm. From your first impression, would you be hesitant to let him in? If you were new to an area and went to a doctor's office for the first time, and the doctor came into the room in jeans and a t-shirt, would you question his credentials? There is a reason for a uniform in every position, to gain trust. I do not believe that the city of Bountiful is wrong in their attempts to gain a more professional image through their employees. The city of Bountiful is not forcing anyone to refrain from tattoos or piercings, they are simply saying that the tattooed uniform is not coherent with their professional uniform.