Do You Feel Secure?

It used to be keys. You car had a key to the door to get inside. The same key also started the car. There was a key to the trunk and maybe the glove compartment but not the engine hood? Your house had a lock on the door but once inside there were no locks. At the office your desk might have a lock but no one used it.

To travel a long distance you bought a ticket and climbed on a bus or train or plane with nothing but a piece of paper.

Occasionally a policeman on a horse or in a cruiser would go buy wearing a badge and a pistol with a smile. To pay your water bill or get a driver’s license or watch your public officials pass laws, you could just walk in any door, just like going to the grocery store or school.

Everyone felt secure.

Today the automobile is the size of a tank and requires an MIT degree to open the door. The flashing lights on the dashboard allow you to set your course, turn on your entertainment, talk to a another person not traveling with your, check all your autos safety modes and track your every move like an airplane. Still automobiles get stolen.

The house now has the security cameras and lighting of a prison that can be accessed from your phone. Family can only access password login locks and any deviance from the norm will alert the security patrol who will come running with guns drawn. The barking dog is no longer needed for the yard is fenced and locked.

Businesses will have security badges and guard who will approve or deny your entrance. Even elevators will require a security swipe.

Then there are the metal detectors.

A metal detector is an electronic instrument that detects the presence of metal nearby. Metal detectors are useful for finding metal inclusions hidden within objects, or metal objects buried underground. They often consist of a handheld unit with a sensor probe that can be swept over the ground or other objects. If the sensor comes near a piece of metal this is indicated by a changing tone in earphones, or a needle moving on an indicator. Usually the device gives some indication of distance; the closer the metal is, the higher the tone in the earphone or the higher the needle goes.

Another common type is the stationary “walk through” metal detector used at access points in prisons, courthouses, and airports to detect concealed metal weapons on a person’s body.

When I got my last job, there were picketers walking around the building. These were people who were being replaced by technology and their union didn’t agree with the companies’ decision.

On my first day I was escorted to the Personnel Department, having a black and white facial photo taken and a colored laminated card (the size of a credit card) with a typed profile of my name, date hired, social security number (?) and signed by a company officer. This card had to be shown to a guard in the lobby when entering the building. The color of the card would allow me to enter another part of the building, also guarded, where another color was not allowed. After a while the guards recognized your face and would wave you through. You could show your library card and get through security. There was never a check of what was being brought into or taken out of the building. I know.

Cameras started appearing in the hallways and some restricted areas. Some uniformed guy would sit and watch multiple monitors of people walking back and forth putting a newspaper together.

Technology changed names and photos to bar codes that had to be swiped to open the door or get onto an elevator. There was still a security guard but they were more to instructing a reader where to get additional editions or play a classified ad.

My first experience with a metal detector was a city hall. It may have been jury duty or paying my property tax but inside the door was a metal frame I had to walk through. A guard pointed to a plastic tray to empty my metal in before being scanned, to be retrieved on the other side. Sometimes it would get my watch or glasses or belt buckle but no one ever asked about my 10” switchblade knife. Don’t know if they picked up fillings or gold teeth?

Now it is just another adjustment in life to feel secure.

At the Tummy Temple there are door scanners to catch people filling a cart and trying to walk out without paying. There are cameras everywhere and part of the congregation try to avoid them. The security guards wear blue aprons and have special bar code card that approves or disallows your cart full of nutrition. There is even a special patron bar code card that has your profile and gives discounts and special deals, but doesn’t know your social security number or age (I think?).

Next week, a new president will take his pledge to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. These occasions every four years have always been an open-air party with citizens and visitors watching parades and listening to bands and celebrating a new CEO of the country.

This year Camp Washington will be a walled city. Helicopters will be hovering. Army troops will be patrolling the perimeter. American’s will be hunkered down at home, watching their small screens and avoiding uncontrolled illness and possible violence. Is this the ‘New World Order’?

Do you feel secure?