Show me some ID

Working for a corporate, you pick some habits over time that can make you look like an idiot outside the office. I am talking about the ID tags that we use to open doors at work. I am so used to flashing my badge every time I see a door that a few days ago, I was in front of a door that refused to open inspite of me flashing my badge repeatedly. It took me a full minute to realize that I was outside my home trying to open the main door. I figured using my key would be better idea.

And then there are times when you go out to a nice restaurant for lunch, the kind of place where the waiters are better dressed than you (in my case that includes pretty much all restaurants and some road side stalls as well), the moment the waiter sees a badge on you, you can perceive the slight change in expression on his face. In his eyes, you are immediately relegated from an esteemed customer to well…corporate sheep. So a word of caution, remember to always hide your badge when eating out.

Since we are talking about badges, I might as well give you another piece of advice.

All you men out there who work for corporates - Please wear your ID badges around your neck instead of clipping it on to your belt.

And here is why...

The other day I was in the lift with a person who looked vaguely familiar.
You know how it is, you don't really want to talk to this person but you are still curious enough to know his name. And what better way to do that than to sneak a peek at his badge.

Picture this, there I was…trying to get a glimpse of his ID card which he had clipped on to his belt. I tossed my head to the side a little, trying to get a peek. Then I realized that he had noticed this. And for all you know, it just looked like I was intently staring at his crotch, apparently that is not a polite thing to do. Not good...and there is no exit strategy from this situation. All I could do was to quickly change the direction of my gaze and pretend that I was looking at his shoes (that is inconveniently located at quite a distance away from the crotch area) and then look in random directions, which in an elevator are not too many.

I was the most relieved man when the elevator got to my floor.

So please, all you men out there, wear your ID tags around your necks.

And all you women, wear...umm...well...just tell me your name alright …