by Zach Bigalke

Created on: August 13, 2007

"Tattoo. What a loaded word it is, rife with associations to goons, goofs, bikers, tribal warriors, carnival artists, drunken sailors and floozies."
-Jon Anderson, "Epidermal Dalis," Chicago Tribune, 6 October 1994

There is something absurdly askew in the world's wealthiest nation when a well-educated man cannot climb above the poverty line at a long-tenured job simply because he has a tattoo. To have to choose between sustenance for his two young children and electricity to keep them warm is simply deplorable...unfathomable...and wrong. Yet, as the tattoo sheds its long-held societal stigma to gain relevance and reverence as a respected expression of self, there are still corporations who use the presence of ink on employee epidermis as justification for workplace discrimination.

I went to culinary school with a fellow from Corpus Christi, Texas who is currently suffering such indignities. Tom led a checkered past, ending up with a crudely inked tattoo on his forearm. He must now wear long-sleeved shirts at all times while in the workplace - not something comfortable or desirable in an environment where every piece of equipment is radiating high heat. He does it without regret, knowing that there are two young boys and a wife at home who must be fed and clothed and treated well.

We went through the Hospitality and Restaurant Management program at Western Culinary Institute in Portland, Oregon. We each finished on the President's List, with grade-point averages above 3.75. Well-educated and ready to live up to his duties as a father and husband, Tom returned to Texas to begin a better life. He went to work for Whataburger, a fast-food franchise founded in his hometown. But, rather than discovering his own land of opportunity, he has been thwarted in his goals for promotion at every turn.

This is a guy who has cut out every one of his past habits, from the illicit drugs of his youth to the cigarettes of the present. He has quieted a witty temper to become a model citizen. Yet that mark on his arm continues to plague him as he seeks a better position and more responsibility. As Jack London once quipped, "Show me a man with a tattoo and I'll show you a man with an interesting past." Tom is certainly a man with an interesting past. It is the present, however, which borders on the absurd.

Tom has worked for the same corporation for the better part of four years now. He took a sabbatical when he realized that the job failed to pay enough to meet expenses, and returned

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