‘If maybe you wanna straighten your hair…that would be fine’: Barista says manager scolded her for wearing hair in a bun because it looked ‘messy’
A barista reenacted an incident in which one of her managers asked her not to wear her hair in a bun because it looked “messy”—despite other baristas doing it.
The video features TikTok user Jorlala (@bhadbharista), who has amassed a large following for stories about her job. This time, she reenacts an incident between her and her manager. In the skit, she portrays both herself and the manager. In the skit, the manager approached Jorlala as she was tying her hair in a bun and proceeded to ask what the content creator was doing.
“Just tied my hair up before work. Why? What’s up?” Jorlala responded. That’s when she was thrown a curve ball. According to the manager, Jorlala isn't allowed to wear her hair in a bun. However, Jorlala found this odd, because she noticed that other baristas have been allowed to wear their hair in buns.
Why are the other baristas permitted to but not Jorlala? Because the content creator's hair, according to her manager, looks “unkempt” and “messy." However, the manager offers a way around this. “If maybe you wanna, like, straighten your hair and then put it in a bun, that would be fine," the manager said. This immediately got under Jorlala’s skin. "Oh, um, so it's because my hair is curly, I can't wear it in a bun?" she clarified. The manager confirmed, informing Jorlala that she needs to style her hair in a way that doesn’t make it appear “messy.”
@jorlala i was in shock lol. $5 to anyone who can guess what devins doing lol #baristatok #customerstorytime #workstories #managersbelike #managerfromhell #managerstories #baristalife ♬ Mary Jane - Rick James
The Daily Dot reached out to Jorlala via Instagram direct message and TikTok comment. The video racked up over 152,000 views since Nov. 14, and left viewers appalled.
“Girl no!!! Call that discrimination out!!” one viewer wrote.
“OH… H*LL NO! HR WOULD BE ON THE PHONE SO FAST IF THAT WAS ME! I have curly hair too so I'm definitely pressed lol,” a second remarked.
In addition, other workers shared similar experiences.
“I had a manager one time tell me that my curly hair looks like ‘Unkempt pubes’ and I need to be ‘styling’ my hair for work. Curly is a style, bro,” one user recalled.
“I had an office manager tell me I couldn't wear my sunglasses on my head….she was awful,” a second revealed.
“Literally had a manager say this to me before too! Bc my hair is ‘frizzy,’” a third shared.
Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time this has happened. Earlier this year, a Black job applicant was told by the interviewer that her natural hair was “inappropriate for the work environment.” Another worker revealed how her job wouldn’t allow her to show her pink hair. Instead of complying, she wore “terrible wigs to work to spite them.”
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