The flame flickers. Slowly. She sways her hips around the contours of the wind as she searches for the perfect beat amidst all the clamor and the energy that is the dinner table. As she wiggles and gyrates her way onto the dinner table, she sweats. I watch as the scolding hot wax slithers down her pinstriped uniform in excitement. Then she multiplies. Slowly. One by one, the flame’s sisters lurk out from the shadows of dusk as she tries to blanket the room in darkness. The air stiffens as the room simmers down to a mere bass line and the flames continue to seduce the room with their dance. It’s time.

“Happy-birthday-to-you. Happy-birthday-to-you. Happy-birthday-dear-Daysha. Happy-birthday to you!”

My 19th birthday stealthily slithered its way in front of me this year. I always knew the day would eventually come but watching another flame sway its way onto my birthday cake only sparked my burning realization that someday I was no longer going to be a teenager; that someday I would be plagued to cut my hair in a short bob, put on a pinstriped pants suit and join all the other  20-somethings in their quest for “adulthood.” But the worst part about this dreaded lifestyle flickering in front of me was that someday I would eventually have to abandon a piece of myself in order to maintain the “perfect image” of my future employer. Currently I have two tattoos and two facial piercings which often sparks the question: “How are you going to find a job?” Personally, I find this question to be quite insulting when presented under the circumstances. While I understand that people ask this question with the best intentions, I just have never been able to understand how my tattoos or my piercings can undermine all the success and merit I have created for myself over my lifetime. I understand that tattoos and piercings come with the old connotation of  being grungy and rebellious but I also feel like we have come to a point in society where tattoos and piercings have become commonplace and can be even considered a part of one’s identity. In her article for the website, Workingworld.com, Erika Icon reports that “Thirty years ago, 1 in 100 people in [the US] had tattoos.” Since then we have come a long way with a reported number of  “1 in 10 Americans hav[ing] [tattoos], and one-third of those aged 25 to 30 having tattoos” in 2011. I even recently saw an article flashing the title, “60 year old woman gets first tattoo.”

To celebrate this momentous milestone of 19 years, I decided to treat myself to another tattoo. After about an hour of being poked and prodded by a microscopic needle, the symbols for the word “warrior” in Arabic became etched onto my left shoulder forever. Now while I choose the language because it looked esthetically  pleasing to me, I choose the word “warrior” because I will always fight for what I believe in or what I’m passionate about. Instead of judging potential employees for having tattoos or piercings, employers should go beyond skin deep and inquire what significance these body markers have in the lives of their potential employees.

Unfortunately the world cannot change overnight and while I can handle having the haircut and putting on the suit, I just think that it is unfair and even discriminatory to flip past a well qualified candidate for a job over something so trivial as a tattoo or a piercing. Now I’m not saying it is appropriate to show up at a job interview with two arm sleeves of tattoos and a face full of piercings and expect to be taken seriously, although in some cultures having multiple facial piercings is a common trademark, but I am saying that since we live in America, which is a melting pot of different cultures, employers should recognize that there is no such thing as the “perfect image” for well qualified employee because the minute you begin to search for perfection, you have already found failure.

So my ultimate verdict on this hot-button issue? One should cover up what they can on  job interview but should also not be afraid to let a little bit of themselves show, especially if they have a story or a strong reason behind why their piercing or tattoo is important to them.

As the flames continued to wiggle their hips under the blanket of dusk, my grandmother whispered across the table,

“Make a wish, Day. And make it good.”

I looked up and smiled. I can’t tell you what I wished for but as watched each flame waft away into the darkness under the weight of my breath, I realized that there was no draft of wind big enough or hard enough to blow out the flame in me, not even my future employer.

The flame flickers. Slowly. She sways her hips around the contours of the wind as she searches for the perfect beat amidst all the clamor and the energy that is life.