How do you spot a civil servant in a crowd? It’s normally quite difficult, especially if the civil servant is out of its element and traveling outside the capital.

Launch an ethnographic expedition into the heart of the civil servant’s breeding grounds, however, and specific badges, insignia and markings become quite evident. Like the feathers of a peacock - or the raised tail of a skunk - these details mark a civil servant as ripe for de-briefing and a presentation.

Now, this is a typically Canadian civil servant I’m describing, but I’m sure you’ll see shadows of your own colleagues in this description.

• a two year old Blackberry, extremely worn (managers)
• brand new Blackberry, never used (executives)
• hair, cut short sides and back
• pleather large Daytimer, with pocket calculator and notepad
• pleated 50/50 slacks with pursed pockets
• a cordura carrier bag, branded for a 1994 OECD policy conference
• generic black government notebook, with printout of Outlook daily calendar
• neck lanyard imprinted with an unintelligible departmental url
• on lanyard: departmental I.D. card, office phone list and transit pass
• wide collection of hotel pens
• book of taxi chits
• for the older civil servant, a lapel pin with multiple flags