Hey! I know you!

The other day I realized how much I enjoy using people's name tags.  I was at the grocery store, paying for my food items when I noticed my cashier's name tag.  I thought to myself, "you know, that name tag is there for a reason, and I'm going to use it."  Upon the completion of my transaction, I said,

"Thanks, Kate"

Kate smiled.  I smiled.  It was a joyous moment.

This encounter reminded me of a similar scenario that happened to me when I was a bank teller.  When I was finished helping a customer, she thanked me and used my name.  At first, I thought that she knew me from somewhere else.  I mean, how else would she otherwise know my name?  Then I remembered that I had a name plate and that's how she knew, duh.  Well, for some strange reason, I got a kick out of the fact that she actually called me by my name.  I guess it's because even though we may have name tags or name plates, the people we interact with rarely ever use them - or at least that's what I've gathered from my experiences.

Name tags are there for a reason, and it doesn't hurt to acknowledge another person's existence every once and a while.  In fact, it feels gratifying to know that we're not just mindlessly bumping into each other every day.  I feel that by using someone's name is just another way of reminding each other that life is real, even among it's veil of monotony.

I'm all about using people's name tags, and I think you should try it sometime if you don't already.

Stay classy