Meaning of a Name Tag (7/11/14)

Do you know where the rental cars are? Where are the Shuttle Buses at? Is there anywhere over here to get a drink? Where do I need to go for my flight? Which baggage carousel do I need to be at? Do you know where I parked at?

I found it rather amusing that I had complete strangers who thought I would have all of the answers to their questions. Now some of the answers I did have, and when I didn’t have them I pointed the person in the right direction.

So my question is does business casual with a random name tag immediately invoke the feeling of employment? I know I got myself into a similar instance when I was at Costco looking to pick up a palette of Mexican bottled Coke. I was desperate to find it because I heard from a reliable source that Coke was switching from sugarcane to high fructose corn syrup in this product line (still unsubstantiated one way or the other by Coca Cola). I walked right up to a third party vendor, and before I even finished my sentence I did a 180 thanked him, and said, “My bad. I didn’t realize you weren’t a Costco employee.”

Have we been conditioned to the point that we don’t even think anymore? Name tag…Obviously an employee. Celebrity…Rich, famous and a wonderful life. Average Joe…Mediocre?