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MUCK FARSHALL!!
When my alma matter Miami University played Marshall, their long time rival, we had t-shirts made that said, “MUCK FARSHALL.” It quickly became one of my favorite articles of clothing, in addition to a growing campus trend. And when I graduated, I vowed never to throw it away. I would wear it with pride for years to come, even outside of the stadium. Today, a few years later, I…
HELLO, my name is Squirrel Man
Something like this would only happen in New York City. My folks and I were walking around Battery Park. We noticed a man sitting on a park bench feeding nuts to squirrels. I looked at him, and he looked at my nametag and waved me over, “Hey Scott, come sit down next to me…feed the squirrels. It’s a lot of fun!” I was hesitant at first, but he seemed…
Did I just see a television in the elevator?
I’m in New York right now at the Parker Meridien Hotel. CBS was kind enough to put me up in such a great place. Great rooms, beds, sweet TV and mini bar, but there is one large problem: in the hotel elevators there are televisions on the top of the door! Usually you’d see the floor lights, but now there is a small TV playing Merry Melody cartoons. This…
Pottery Barn necklace creates a customer for life
I walked into Pottery Barn about a year ago for nothing in particular, just to browse. The first person who greeted me was an employee wearing a string of large red plastic chili peppers around her neck. I immediately saw a great opportunity to talk to her, so I commented about it. “I like your necklace!” I joked. (Obviously the decoration was traditionally used for a kitchen, but this…
Using nametags to get discounted Red Bull
I once brought a box of nametags to a party hosted by a few of my Persian friends. Babak (the host) and his wife had a great idea: write everyone’s names in Farsi! Everyone loved their new nametags – even if they couldn’t read them! After a while we realized our Red Bull supply had run dry. So my friend Laszlo ran out to the local Plaid Pantry. When…
Using nametags to make yourself available to customers
A nametag doesn’t always have to be a tag, per se. When I was a furniture salesman in Portland; I encountered many customers who wore a myriad of nametags for their respective jobs. One of my favorites was a woman I met a few years back. She approached me at the checkout counter, said hello and quickly shifted her body to make her right arm visible. I noticed she…
Adventures of the coat check bandit
Assumption: nametag=employee. I was eating dinner tonight at a place in St. Louis called Kreis’ Steakhouse. (Wearing my nametag as usual) Before sitting down I grabbed mine and my grandpa’s coat and headed to the coat check closet by the entry way. Right after hanging the two coats a gentleman walked in the door. He was about 50 or so and was removing his coat to check it in…