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If you didn't laugh, you'd just go insane
Oct. 27th, 2009 10:24 pmYou've all seen us, but you never see us. We are the people who sit at desks and watch monitors and endure being called rent-a-cops and other less flattering names. Yes, some of our number are no more than two feet and a heartbeat but any job can say that about their people. You just see us on our asses in a chair or wandering apparently aimlessly through doors on patrols. Sometimes we even piss you off when we deny you access to places you feel entitled to be or we question your presence in these areas. We are security professionals and you pay us peanuts to endure things you would never take on as your responsibility or don't care about and then sneer at us both behind our backs and to our faces, expecting us to take the shit you hand us with a smile and dig in... and god love us, because some of us do since we genuinely love our jobs and care about what we do.
This is the story of what a security professional goes through on a bad day.
( I got an E ticket! )
My day went to hell in a handbasket but as one of the residents pointed out me, at least it all happened on one day and you don't have to worry for a while. I don't believe that because as a security guard, my day can go to hell at any given time because I'm always dealing with people who are angry at the world and I just happen to be a safe target. I can't arrest them, I just have to take their shit with a smile. I'm riding as a passenger in someone else's systems, watching over them and letting other people know when they go wrong and how to fix them, but since I'm JUST a security guard, no one ever listens to me.
I did realize as I was recounting this story to my friend that I had a pretty good day really. I kept my cool, didn't piss anyone off too much and here I am alive to tell the tale. It was just another fucked up day in paradise for me and yet, it was also another day above ground, so I guess it's all good. Even though it was chaos while it was happening, I knew it was all manageable and I knew that because I know how to do my job. I might not have liked dealing with the shit on my plate, but I did it and that's what I want people to know about security professionals.
Some of us do care and we deal with being pulled in all directions at once, so please, the next time you see a guy (or gal) sitting at a desk in a quasi-official uniform, don't just assume they're two feet and a heartbeat.
As for the day... well, Bette David said "You know what nostalgia is, don't you? It's basically a matter of recalling the fun without reliving the pain." I really hope today becomes nostalgic fast because it was one wild ride.
This is the story of what a security professional goes through on a bad day.
( I got an E ticket! )
My day went to hell in a handbasket but as one of the residents pointed out me, at least it all happened on one day and you don't have to worry for a while. I don't believe that because as a security guard, my day can go to hell at any given time because I'm always dealing with people who are angry at the world and I just happen to be a safe target. I can't arrest them, I just have to take their shit with a smile. I'm riding as a passenger in someone else's systems, watching over them and letting other people know when they go wrong and how to fix them, but since I'm JUST a security guard, no one ever listens to me.
I did realize as I was recounting this story to my friend that I had a pretty good day really. I kept my cool, didn't piss anyone off too much and here I am alive to tell the tale. It was just another fucked up day in paradise for me and yet, it was also another day above ground, so I guess it's all good. Even though it was chaos while it was happening, I knew it was all manageable and I knew that because I know how to do my job. I might not have liked dealing with the shit on my plate, but I did it and that's what I want people to know about security professionals.
Some of us do care and we deal with being pulled in all directions at once, so please, the next time you see a guy (or gal) sitting at a desk in a quasi-official uniform, don't just assume they're two feet and a heartbeat.
As for the day... well, Bette David said "You know what nostalgia is, don't you? It's basically a matter of recalling the fun without reliving the pain." I really hope today becomes nostalgic fast because it was one wild ride.
