Outside my husband, I couldn't tell you whether anyone I know does or does not have a Temple recommend at the moment. It would be pretty hard for people to use something as a status symbol that very, very few people would ever see. It isn't something one hauls out in a business transaction or social occasion. That would be horribly gauche.
I understand that it would be hard for Chad to speak to the Bishop about having an affair or about his totally divergent beliefs, and the consequences for that might be something people can notice. But we really don't go around presenting this card to people or discussing it. You show up for an appointment for a private interview, very few people are around in the building at the time; you leave with or without it, very few people are aware which of the two it is; you present it at the door of the Temple and put it back in your wallet, relatively few people you know are sitting in your midst while you are there.
So your impression is consistent with one person's experience....mine.