Tom Whitehurst

No reason to dread the locks

Tina Butler, Gloria Reed and Susan Scott are a generation removed from the two Sinton teens whose braided, beaded hair got them kicked off their sports teams last week.
   Butler, 36, and Reed, 48, are administrative assistants at Del Mar College, and Scott, 36, is a service representative with Southwestern Bell. All three consider themselves conservative in matters of appearance, and all three say their workplaces expect them to look professional.
   They are workplace conformists, and yet they share something in common with those Sinton teens besides African-American heritage. All three have braided hair, otherwise known as cornrows. But not one of them has heard a complaint from supervisors or coworkers.
   ‘It gets compliments’
   "As a professional employee here at Del Mar College, it has not posed any type of problem with my supervisor or fellow employees," said Reed, who has been with Del Mar for 29 years. "It’s fashionable, it’s manageable and it gets compliments. It’s not anything out of the ordinary."
   She likes the look, but says the convenience was the main attraction for her. When she wakes up in the morning, her hair is basically ready for work.
   "If you have a family like I do, you don’t have very much time. It’s like five minutes or less. You can put it in a ponytail style or put some pins in it and you’re out the door. And still it looks good."
   Butler changes the look of her hair often, and braids hair for friends, including Scott.
   "A lot of them do it because it’s an easier fashion," Butler said. "You don’t have to get up and comb your hair. Your hair is already ready."
   No negative feedback
   Reaction from coworkers consists mostly of questions about how it is done, how to take care of it and whether it’s painful, she said.
   Scott, who describes her workplace as "pretty much a corporate situation" where she dresses conservatively, has large braids with ornaments that she says "really stand out."
   "But as far as any negative feedback from my managers or from workers here, I’ve had none. Actually, I’ve had compliments."
   Butler can take those compliments as a testament to her handiwork.
   Reed had her braids done professionally, at Kae’s Emporium, where the Sinton teens had theirs done. She was there at the same time they were, and said they caught her attention with their flinching and yelping.
   ‘Some pain involved’
   "I thought it was comical because the boys were not able to stay still, because there is some pain involved."
   None of the three women thought that the boys’ hair would have caused a stir in their workplaces, or cost them a job. All thought that the boys’ hair looked neat and well groomed.
   "I’m meeting and greeting public every day. I would wear my hair like that, but if I saw that it was a distraction I would change it," Butler said. "What I saw didn’t appear to be distracting or unkempt.
   "If it’s neat, off the collar, I don’t see that it’s a problem. Some people like that look, and cornrows are what African Americans wear. It’s nothing different for us. Our ancestors wore their hair in braids."
   ‘It’s neat’
   In the workplace, the most important issue about hairstyles, makeup and clothing is that they do not become the issue, said Lou Kennedy, a Corpus Christi-based business etiquette consultant.
   "When your hairstyle, clothing, tattoos become the focal point, then that is not considered good taste and can work against you."
   That said, Kennedy, who is Anglo and has short, straight hair, saw news reports about the Sinton teens and thought their hairstyles complemented their appearance.
   "I just thought, it’s contemporary, it’s neat, it’s well groomed."
   Business Editor Tom Whitehurst Jr. can be reached at 886-3619 or by e-mail at
   whitehurstt@caller.com
  

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