> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.howardgray.net/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# I don’t do name tags
- URL: https://www.howardgray.net/i-dont-do-name-tags/
- Published: 2019-07-30T02:41:30.000Z
- Updated: 2021-07-22T14:33:50.000Z
- Author: Howard Gray
- Tags: Mindsets & Growth, Reflections & Stories

The other night I went to an information event for a program I’d registered interest in.

It was held in a conference room at a sleek building in Midtown Manhattan; the type of place where the gunmetal elevator zooms you straight up to the 40th floor in the blink of an eye and a squeeze of the eardrums.

On arrival, there were nuts and falafels and sodas and wine, and a welcoming committee who instructed me to wear my name tag. After all, that’s a part of what we do here.

By now, I know what happens. I don’t do name tags. I don’t try them, write them out fresh, or tuck them out of sight. They’re just not for me.

Is it my iconoclastic attitude? A disinterest in ceremony, a contempt for convention.

I don’t trust easily. I’m guarded, introverted. I hide away at the back of the class. You can’t find out my name from the tag.

But here’s the thing. Ask me and I’ll tell.

I just don’t want to give it away unless I have the space to tell the whole story.

And of course, this isn’t just about names.