I remember when they instituted id cards entering some of the print laps at work, which was not the largest change to building security, but I felt it to be a bit stifling. I griped about it to my coworker. Well, Martin pretty much put everything back into perspective. It seems when he was much younger his job was working at a special Russian government research facility.
That was a serious place, where not only do you need to go through a special gate with a guard to let you in, but the entrances and exits were posted with armed guards. The guards were also located in a lot of other locations around the campus. Another difference between my situation and the research facility was if my badge gets lost I will get a stern talking to and then I get a new badge, if someone from Martin’s facility lost their badge they couldn’t leave the grounds until it was located.
The badges were kept at the entrance and given to you when you got there and taken away when you left.