On August 9, sports announcer and social media personality Mikee Reyes shared an exchange with a client that sparked conversations online. The topic? Tattoos in the workplace and their impression on kids.
According to the screenshots, Mikee was asked to wear long sleeves to cover his tattoos in an event that he was supposed to attend. However, he was uncomfortable with it and turned down the gig instead.
The conversation goes:
Organizer: “Hi Mikey! Confirmed na on ***. They’re asking lang if you’re okay to wear long sleeves to cover the tattoos?”
Mikee Reyes: “Hi ***! Sorry to hear. Im not really comfortable with being asked to cover my tattoos to do my job.
It’s okay. Sorry, i think ill have to pass on this.
He also added his contact’s response after he said he cannot accommodate the brand’s request.
Organizer: “I understand po. 🙂 Family day daw po and there will be a lot of kids kaya pinatanong lang po. But i’ll let them know po :)”
On his Facebook Page, he also wrote:
I assume kilala niyo naman sino kinukuha niyo?
1. You couldve just told me na ang attire is formal or need na longsleeves, and i wouldnt look into it.Susunod naman ako.2. My tattoos make me bad for kids? Pano kung may ma-impart pala sana akong maganda sakanila?3. Im sure hindi kasalanan nung kausap ko.Sinabihan lang naman siya to ask me.Pero tuloy lang naman tayo, guys.God is too good, for us to worry abt these things.I’ve already made more friends and achieved more things, being myself, than i could ever have trying to be someone else.
Ika ng mga tito/tita,THANK YOU, NEXT.
ICYMI, “Tito Mikee” is known for making waves as TV5’s inaugural sports anchor with visible tattoos. Since posting about the incident, it has garnered more than 41K reactions and over a thousand comments with netizens sharing their perspective on what happened. We gathered a few of them.
Some applauded him for “breaking the stigma” and said, “As long as we do our jobs well, ‘di ba?” Meanwhile, others were saddened, pointing out that “it’s the Pinoy culture.”
Certain individuals even jotted down where the mindset comes from and wrote, “This came from Filipino ancestry that being inked is the sign of being a criminal.”
However, they also expressed how people can have different views on tattoos. “If this is an art for you, you can’t let someone love what they didn’t like coming from their standpoint,” one said; while another one added, “Kung kayong may mga tattoo ayaw nyong papadikta sa mga taong ayaw sa tattoo, bakit kaming mga ayaw sa tattoo dapat magpadikta sa gusto nyo?”
As a professional, a commenter shared how they address their decision to have tattoos as. “I have a lot of tattoos too but I always make sure that I also respect the situation and the principles of other people or the protocol,” they said.
A tattooed nurse also shared their story, “I got the job but they required me to wear [a] tattoo cover, makeup to cover my arms, and even told [me] to put [a] bandage on my arms.”
Then, one simply shared a photo of a tattooed primary school teacher and described him to be “OK naman.”
As for tattooed individuals’ impression on kids, some netizens said that parents “should educate their kids na ‘wag maging judgemental.” They also mentioned how “we, as adults should teach the young ones to accept people [for] who they are.” According to them, this is in preparation for the different types of people they will meet in the future.
Nevertheless, others remained neutral and emphasized that respect “goes both ways–respect for the company and respect for the person with the tattoo,” one of them commented.
Photo: Tito Mikee Reyes on Facebook
How about you, what are your thoughts on this matter? Tell us in the comments.
