The name on the badge

Text A: an original contemporary practice extract.

At the shop, the assistant’s badge gave me a name to use after she found the item I had been looking for. Saying thank you, Leena felt less like addressing a moving part of the counter. I knew nothing about her beyond the work she had just done, but the name made it easier to acknowledge the person doing it.

I have worn a badge myself. Some customers used the name courteously; others ignored it, which caused no difficulty. I liked not having every exchange begin with excuse me delivered into the air. The badge did not make a customer my friend. It gave an ordinary transaction a word through which attention could be directed to an individual rather than only to a uniform.

Staff should have a sensible choice about the name displayed, and a badge is not an invitation to personal questions. With those boundaries understood, I welcome the small introduction. A public-facing job can involve a hundred brief encounters in which a person’s work is noticed and the person almost disappears. A name can help the thanks reach its address.

Text B: an original contemporary practice extract.

The badge was meant to make me approachable. During my first week at the desk, several customers used my name before giving an instruction they would have phrased more politely without it. The sound of familiarity arrived before the courtesy that might have justified it. I began hearing the badge less as an introduction than as a device for obtaining my attention.

Other visitors used it kindly, and I did not want everyone to return to waving across the room. My objection concerned the assumption that knowing a first name meant knowing a person. I was still doing a job, within a shift and a set of responsibilities. The name did not add unlimited availability or make a personal conversation part of every request.

Let staff choose an appropriate displayed name and explain the purpose of the badge clearly. It identifies someone who can help; it does not establish an intimacy the two people have agreed to share. A name spoken with respect can improve a brief exchange. The same name spoken as though respect has already been purchased can make that exchange more demanding.

Compare how the writers present their ideas and perspectives about staff name badges. Support your comparisons with detailed references to both texts.