# We don' need no steenkin' badges!! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 5, 2001, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-don-need-no-steenkin-badges/91641 "2001-11-05T18:34:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2001, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-don-need-no-steenkin-badges/91641/1 "2001-11-05T18:34:10Z")
Actually, _we_ do. I work on a Naval Air Station and the guards check every ID badge as we drive aboard in the morning. I can get into my building without one, but to go to the main building or any of the hangars, I must show and wear my badge. Last job I had, the badge had the magnetic strip that we had to run thru to be able to get into the building, and outside of normal working hours we had to use a PIN code also. All the teachers at my daughter’s school are badged - I think that’s true countywide, and perhaps statewide. So, who’s badged? Mere name tags don’t count - I’m talking a photo ID that you wear on a lanyard or clip on your shirt. Incidentally, I sport a red lanyard - just too, too darling… ---
**Author:** ![GrizzRich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7ba0ec/32.png) [@GrizzRich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrizzRich)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2001, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-don-need-no-steenkin-badges/91641/2 "2001-11-05T18:40:52Z")
Travel Manager in a Chemical Company checking in here. Badged?! Oh, you betcha! It’s got my pic on it, but no address or name of the company. So’s if it’s lost, no one can figure out to what company it belongs. Got a microchip in it, too. It’s read by a scanner. None of that primitive “magnetic stip” for us! ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2001, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-don-need-no-steenkin-badges/91641/3 "2001-11-05T18:41:36Z")
Pardon me, but could you help out a fellow American who’s down on his luck (and has to use a badge to access the parking lot, doors, and elevators). ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2001, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-don-need-no-steenkin-badges/91641/4 "2001-11-05T18:42:13Z")
I have a badge that I never wear. Two of my previous jobs demanded badges, but in one case it was never really used, and in the other case you flashed it in front of a TV monitor to verify that you were you. I don’t think it was terribly useful in either case. In the first instance the guards either knew you or they didn’t. I think they’d be more suspicious of an unfamiliar face with a badge that a familiar face without one. In the other case it went by so quickly that they probably didn’t notice at all, as long as it had a face. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2001, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-don-need-no-steenkin-badges/91641/5 "2001-11-05T18:42:55Z")
Yes. How does it come to pass that many people wear them with the photo turned around so that you can’t see it? ---
**Author:** ![occ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8c91f0/32.png) [@occ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/occ)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2001, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-don-need-no-steenkin-badges/91641/6 "2001-11-05T19:31:19Z")
Place I used to work decided there were too many security risks around, so they started requiring badges. First day, wouldn’t you know I forgot mine? Anyway, after about a week, half the employees got sick of 'em and quit wearing them (myself included). There were only about 150 employees, and everybody knew the security guys; anyone else would sign in and get in anyway, so why bother? I think oftentimes ID badges are used to foster feelings of both security and professionalism, while their effectiveness is often less than stellar. ---
**Author:** ![Corrvin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bbce88/32.png) [@Corrvin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corrvin)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2001, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-don-need-no-steenkin-badges/91641/7 "2001-11-05T19:32:30Z")
\<\\> If I’m at work, I wear my badge with picture facing out, but if I’m going to lunch or stopping at the store, I turn my badge around. I don’t want strangers being able to see my full name and where I work, but I also don’t want to take my badge off and lose it somewhere. I also have a woven lanyard with seven pins including my three-year pin from work, a pocket watch in the shape of a Volkswagen that clips onto it, and the key to my locker here. I’m a packrat. Corr ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2001, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-don-need-no-steenkin-badges/91641/8 "2001-11-05T20:32:18Z")
Work for a health insurance company. I’m badged. Can’t get into the building without it. All sorts of top-secret medical records and such. Although it’s not like I get to see any of them anyways. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2001, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-don-need-no-steenkin-badges/91641/9 "2001-11-05T21:29:19Z")
You can’t get into any NYC office buildings without a photo ID these days. I have to use up one day of vacation to go to the DMV and get a driver’s license with a photo on it. Now, I wouldn’t object to this in the slightest if it did any good. But doesn’t it occur to these people that ALL THE TERRORISTS HAD PHOTO IDS? How do they think they got passports and plane tickets and flying lessons?! Do they think terrorists can’t be photographed, like vampires? All this is doing is giving everyone a nice placebo effect that “we are doing something to keep ourselves safe,” when all it’s really accomplishing is inconveniencing doormen. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2001, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-don-need-no-steenkin-badges/91641/10 "2001-11-05T21:42:31Z")
…so of _course_ we have photo-ID badges. They check our IDs when we drive in the gate, here at the Suitland Federal Center complex, and again when we enter our building. ---
**Author:** ![stofsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dfb087/32.png) [@stofsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stofsky)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2001, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-don-need-no-steenkin-badges/91641/11 "2001-11-05T22:45:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Corrvin \* > \*\*I also have a woven lanyard with seven pins including my three-year pin from work, a pocket watch in the shape of a Volkswagen that clips onto it, and the key to my locker here. I’m a packrat. > Corr \*\* Seven pieces of flash is the “minimum.” If you only want to do the “minimum,” that’s OK. But look at Bob over there… ---
**Author:** ![stofsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dfb087/32.png) [@stofsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stofsky)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2001, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-don-need-no-steenkin-badges/91641/12 "2001-11-05T22:47:30Z")
Damn, that’s “flare.” Somebody kick me. Or take my stapler. Or something. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2001, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-don-need-no-steenkin-badges/91641/13 "2001-11-05T23:27:43Z")
My flare consists of a 20-year pin and a 25-year pin. Both are pseudo pewter. When I get my 30, I’ll get a pseudo gold pin. Just under 3 years to go… ---
**Author:** ![Kamandi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5daacb/32.png) [@Kamandi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamandi)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2001, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-don-need-no-steenkin-badges/91641/14 "2001-11-06T00:16:56Z")
It’s “ **flair** ”, not “flare”. You’re showing your spirit, not bursting into flame. Aerospace engineer checking in. Always had a badge - with colored stripe indicating foreign nationality. It’s got a magnetic stripe _aaaand_ a bar code. So there. ---
**Author:** ![tapioca\_tundra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a88e57/32.png) [@tapioca\_tundra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tapioca_tundra)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2001, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-don-need-no-steenkin-badges/91641/15 "2001-11-06T01:23:23Z")
```auto but does Anticay wear one?.....nope! because the ladies in the cafeteria give me the 25% discount WITHOUT my badge. ``` ---
**Author:** ![toshirodragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e68b1a/32.png) [@toshirodragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toshirodragon)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2001, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-don-need-no-steenkin-badges/91641/16 "2001-11-06T02:29:27Z")
Oh yeah I have a badge… I keep wondering if all these badges are actually a bad thing. You see a badge and assume that person has a right to be there… even if the badge says Acme and sons… ---
**Author:** ![blur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dbc845/32.png) [@blur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blur)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2001, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-don-need-no-steenkin-badges/91641/17 "2001-11-06T03:08:22Z")
I have a badge, its used to get in the front gate, get into the building and get into the room that I work in. ---
**Author:** ![PlanMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/2bfe46/32.png) [@PlanMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlanMan)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2001, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-don-need-no-steenkin-badges/91641/18 "2001-11-06T03:15:07Z")
State Dept. of Transportation worker here, we have photo IDs\* with a chip inside, wave the chip in front of the sensor, and the door unlocks. Works in our District Office in the booming micropolis of Lake City, too. A slight problem if they ever try to match my pic to ‘me’ - the badge got wet, and part of my face transferred to the vinyl holder. Wear it on the exquisite dog-tag chain they provided, with the badge usually stuck in my shirt pocket. Interestingly, altho’ most of our District offices (we’re divided into 7 geographic districts) have some sort of ID badge system, the Central Office in Tallahassee does not. Wierd. \*Although an ID is required, an ego is not, and is actually discouraged. [sub]hello fellow FDOT-er, whatever your screen name is[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2001, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-don-need-no-steenkin-badges/91641/19 "2001-11-06T04:44:17Z")
The Cat Who Walks Alone and Bonzo have to wear high school student IDs around their necks on lanyards. In previous years the administration let the non-compliance thing slide, but since 9/11 they’re coming down hard. The Cat is, like, “Yeah, right, like terrorists are gonna try to come in here and do anything, they’d have to be nuts.” She has the notorious Mr. Sock Puppet physics teacher this year, the one who uses a hand puppet during his lessons. ---
**Author:** ![Why\_A\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/13edae/32.png) [@Why\_A\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Why_A_Duck)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2001, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-don-need-no-steenkin-badges/91641/20 "2001-11-06T11:43:04Z")
Yet another badged one checking in. Wasn’t there a Dilbert a few years back where the PHB told the employees that they had to wear badges with photos on them, and then made the allusion that only criminals do that. (Sorry, it’s early and I’m operating on 2 hours of sleep, grammar and memory not friend me). My badge has my picture, my security clearance, and the ubiquitous magnetic stripe. We have to use it to get into our building, although since 9/11, we have to pass through a badge-activated turnstile and then show it to a guard. It is also our key to getting paid, clock-in, clock-out, etc. And of course, the magnetic stripe is opposite the company name and “if found drop in any mailbox message”, so after a few months of swiping, all that is pretty much obliterated. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-don-need-no-steenkin-badges/91641.md?page=2)