A question on Dudeism in the work place...

[BlankXIII]

I try to abide.
I truly do.
I have a bullshit job, making min wage working for a national thrift store.  I abide co-workers who do not work, forcing me to work double.  I abide a schedule that comes out LESS than 24 hours before the first day on the schedule.  I abide hostile customers, and incompetent managers.  I abide a highly bureaucratic upper management system.
But I can not abide their new policy on hats.
See, I started losing hair at 15.  I denied it for years, and tried to cover up, but eventually that stopped working so I started wearing hats.  I wear hats ANY TIME I leave the house and have done so for many years.  I feel both uncomfortable and vulnerable without a hat on in public.  Not wearing a hat makes me get uptight.  When I interviewed for my current job I was wearing a hat, and being interviewed by two men wearing hats.  I wore a hat on the sales floor for over 3 months before they decided to change hat policy.  Now I have been sent home for refusing to remove my hat.  The Muslim I work with is allowed to wear his kufi (a knit hat similar to a Jewish cap) due to reasons of religion.  
I, however, identify as Dudeist.
SO, is there any way that you think I can claim that allowing myself to become uptight due to not having my head covered would constitute a violation of my religious beliefs, as feeling uncomfortable and uptight only separates me from His Dudeness?  Or should I just say "Fuck it," and let them can me.

[redhawg]

 :-\If your place of work allows for religious people to wear hats, then they should allow you to also, except if your hat contains horns of some sort.

[BlankXIII]

Nope, no horns.  I actually went out of my way to make a hat containing the company logo in an attempt to make the wearing of the hat more paletable to the company.

[cckeiser]

Well dude...we just don't know. And you are in the unique position to confirm or disconfirm the suspicion  there can be found an answer to your dilemma in the Dude De Ching:
http://dudeism.com/tao/

Welcome to both new dudes! Smoke em if you got em.

[Busmum]

out on a limb here, but maybe you could try exploring why being without a hat in public makes you so uncomfortable and uptight...for what it's worth, there are those of us that really dig that bald/balding look 

abiding starts with self-acceptance, the way i see it... i can't do anything about my very unfeminine amounts of facial hair, or the fact that my hips are shaped for spewing out copious amounts of children... but i am who i am regardless.

that being said, i once had to switch my very subtle nose ring for an equally subtle post because my principal didn't like it-- even though he hired me with ring in.  after a brief reactionary snit, i realized that i loved what i did for a living (teaching) more than i cared about what the ring symbolized (vs. the post)... and continued to abide.

it's all about what's important, and what you can tolerate 

[Rev. Ed C]

It's a hard battle to fight against conformity.  I think the key is not to fight it but to flow along with it to some extent.

I don't wear a tie to work, but I do wear a bolo-tie and leave my top button undone.  My thing is that I won't wear an item of clothing that my female colleagues aren't required to wear.

I wrote an article that covered part of this issue last year, about trying to get around your boss when it comes to being chained by "corporate policy" and the like.  Gender bias in one way, and if you're brave enough to stand up for Dudeism, religious rights/rites is another.

Of course, we advocate comfort, and a hat in your case is more for feeling better about yourself.  As Busmum says, maybe you should look at accepting you for who you are.  That may take a while, if it's even possible for you personally, but in the mean time perhaps you need to explain the issue of hat-wearing to your bosses.  Explain that not wearing a hat makes you uptight and it's an aid to effective working.  If it's non-intrusive in design and subtle, like muslim kufis are they should have no problem.  As a last resort, try pulling the Dudeist card, saying it's against your faith to put yourself in unnesseccary discomfort over such a small thing.

Sikhs don't have to wear crash-helmets on motorbikes, nor police helmets or I guess military helmets, because of their turbans.  I'm pretty sure if the beast of health and safety can be overturned, a new policy that didn't seem to matter a few months ago can be questioned and challenged.

And yeah, if they say no, try getting more in tune with your true, hairless self, say "fuck it" and maybe look for another job that will make you happier and less stressed.

There are always options, Dude.
I wish you the best of luck in your hat-related endeavours

[Zen Dog]

Self acceptance is the thing.I'm a naturist.Naturists by nature are nonconformist.It is the ultimate peaceful Agincourt salute to conformist society.However,time and place dudes.I have had to wear a uniform of one kind or another all my working life but the thing is, and this just cracks me up,I know you see that even though I am walking down the street or whatever that I am in fact a fully dressed male nude and the disguise works brilliantly.
How about a syrup dude.You can get some gooduns these days that hardly show.

[meekon5]

I come from a long line of hirsutely challenged men. I knew I was going to loose mine because the gene for male pattern baldness is a dominant one, and I have it on both sides of the family (both mothers and fathers) so I stood no chance.

My solution is to shave it all off and keep it very short.

now I just have an immense beard instead.

[Rev. Ed C]

My solution is to shave it all off and keep it very short.

now I just have an immense beard instead.

Facial hair is a wonderful substitute for head hair, indeed!  The deliberately shaven head with a beard (aka, the baldy beardy) is a great look, and once my own hair dies out (as I know it will in a matter of 10 or so years, judging by my father), I'm looking forward to it.

If you go for a short-cropped beard, that's pretty cool and trendy.  If you go for the long beard like myself and Meekon you get more of the Terry Pratchett, which is cool, but not very trendy.  Terry Pratchett is one of the gods that we Weirdy Beardy types pray to

[Zen Dog]

You should check out Cohens in the new Troll Bridge movie they are making.Snowgum films on kickstarter.

[Dirty Hippie]

I am in the opposite boat. I have to wear a hat at my delivery boy job. I haven't worn one since I was a kid, and pushing 40, I feel silly in a baseball cap.

One answer? Let go of your vanity. No one cares what you look like. Reduce your ego and everything will fall into place. Worked for me.

[meekon5]

If it's the thing about attracting the opposite sex (or the same making no presumptions here), it's all about confidence not looks or hair.

I am a short, fat, bold, bloke who wears glasses.

I frequently am presented with the point of view (from other men) "Don't bother she is out of your League!" or the comment to a lady friend I may be with, "What are you doing with that slap head?"

My answer to this is quite simple.

Darwin, evolution of the species. If all women thought that way, and judged men purely on their physical looks fitting  certain norm, I would not exist, simply put the genes for short fat bold men would be eradicated through selective breeding. Not just because women would not have children with short fat bold men, also they would not have sex with men that would become short fat and bold because they would not want to pass that on to their children.

I exist, loads of other men like me exists, i even see some of them walking round with beautiful partners. The hypothesis is proven to be flawed. Luckily for me. Not all Women judge future partners on a narrow set of criteria. They prefer humour, wit, intelligence.

This goes for both dual and single sex relationships, not everyone is attracted to people like me but enough are for me to be able to find suitably pleasing partners as and when I feel the need.

As Dirty Hippie just said, "Let go of your vanity", you can do the wig thing, you can do the comb over thing or you can just say fuck the lot of them I am what I am (stop singing at the back of the class there!) if you can't accept that how are other people going to?

[Zen Dog]

Sophia Loren was married to Carlo Ponti for many years.If you've never heard of him he was a short fat bald film director.He made her laugh which was all she needed because her early life was very sad.

[Caesar dude]

He made her laugh which was all she needed because her early life was very sad.

I love the simplicity of that statement.

True love does not care for good looks nor wit nor wealth.

Peace dudes.