You may remember me telling you a few blogs back about a guy from New York, AJ Jacobs, who did a year-long "experiment" of sorts with the Bible, and then wrote about it in "The Year of Living Biblically." Well, now I am in the beginning stages of learning about another experimenter by the name of Scott Ginsberg (hails from Oregon) who wears a name tag all the time, every day, every where he goes. Here is what led him to do so:"I am merely a man whose goal in life is to be friendly to everyone, to break down walls of social trepidation, and spread sheer joy that can be found through interpersonal interaction. To put it in better terms, I wish to invite everyone to sit on my "front porch" to help enhance our society's level of communication. And my individual method of accomplishing this goal is carried out by one simple, consistent act: wearing a name tag. What would happen if I wore a name tag all the time? I predicted people's reactions to wearing a name tag would be pretty interesting. What I did not predict, however, was that wearing a name tag would eventually change my entire life. "
I am really interested to see where this name tag wearing takes him. I was sharing this story with Gregg this morning. He countered by saying, "I wear a name tag every day and I don't think people are any friendlier to me, any more open to having a conversation with me." I pondered what he said for a moment, then I remembered what his name tag is attached to.....his beloved flight suit. I told him I think the flight suit creates a barrier with people. They automatically think "Top Gun" which leads them to Tom Cruise....which leads them to Scientology. Then they get scared and clam up. There! That solves that dilemma.
PS- At NewLife, we take 3 Sundays a year and "tag" people.....that is give everyone a name tag. And strangely enough, there seems to be a noticeable difference those Sundays. Everything seems smaller, more intimate, there is more willingness to smile and even engage in eye contact. There are fewer social barriers those Sundays. It is pretty exciting to experience. Some people have suggested that we do it every Sunday. I just don't know how I feel about that. But for now, I really enjoy the climate that having name tags creates on those special Sundays when we "tag" everybody.
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