Why I Refuse to Wear My Name Tag at Work

Everyone who has worked with the public in some capacity (which includes pretty much everyone who has ever worked) has a horror story of a customer who tried to get too close. Whether it's a humorous or flattering flirtation story or a disturbing, harrowing intrusive one, there is a line between worker and customer that should not be crossed.

There are, of course, exceptions; if both people choose to date, or to become friends outside of the place where they are limited to serving/servee roles. These stories seem to multiply for women, especially young women, as flirtations can range from harmless to frightening.

My own experiences have made me decide not to wear my name tag at my workplace. While I understand the need to offer a reliable identity to those I serve and attend to, I don't see the need to offer my full name and thus expose myself to possible unsafe situations.

Previous workplaces had my first name displayed, and possibly my last initial. I saw no harm in this at all - it showed customers my name and kept my identity private. I have never been a supervisor, so there was never really a need to display my full name to the public. Also, I was usually the only woman at my work who had my first name (as I am now), and if not, the other woman with the same name had a different physical description, so once the customer started to describe one of us, it was easy to find out who he/she was talking about.

I've worked in places in which older men invited me to hotel rooms, asked for my last name so they could look up my address and phone number, asked where I lived and who I lived with, which car in the parking lot was mine, watch me at the local gym and follow me once they recognized me, and so on. I've worked with women who had men wait outside for them, follow them home, find out their phone numbers and called them anonymously, and similar other frightening situations. The reality is that in this digital age, all someone needs is a name and they can find out that person's address, phone number, school, and who knows what else.