The inspiration for...
The inspiration for... |
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My mother lives in a downtown senior citizen high rise, and the administrators there have always been very interested in maintaining security for the building. Two steps they have taken in recent years have been the hiring of a security agency to provide guards for the evening hours, and the installation of video cameras above the front and back doors.
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What the cameras see is available to all residents on their TVs through cable channel 16. My wife and I have dubbed this "The Door Channel." One can sit and watch the comings and goings (or absolutely nothings) of the residents—and paramedics, if the need arises—24 hours a day. That’s in seven-second increments, incidentally, since the cameras switch from the front door to the back door to the front door, every seven seconds. Only the slowest senior citizens fail to evade the watchful gaze of residents who are tuned in. Watchers are also thwarted by the paramedics who have the uncanny knack of taking people out on the gurney feet first, thereby depriving the Watchers of knowing who is being taken to the hospital. (In fact, some people have complained bitterly about that!)
As
for the security guards, they suit the building perfectly because, despite their
uniforms, they are as old as the residents. They arrive around 7 or 8 PM (depending
on the season) and stay through midnight. My mother, who uses "The Door
Channel" as her window on the world, and as a vicarious way to leave her
small apartment, enjoys watching the security guards as they go about their
duties in their various ways. One, the oldest of the lot, takes copious notes
on a clipboard though, since none of the others do, it is unclear what he is
writing about. Speculation suggests something like: "10 PM: Sighted squirrel
in front of building." This behavior served as the inspiration for the
first Security Noir story.
Another wears a heavy non-regulation, non-uniform coat because he grows cold when the temperature drops below 60 degrees Fahrenheit. He can also be seen drinking hot coffee and sitting on the heater (on top of the sign that says, "Don’t sit on heater"). Another patrols the outside of the building almost constantly, pausing only briefly to stand inside the door and watch vigilantly for…something that will probably never happens. As for the fourth, she happens to be my cousin, Maryanne, who provided part of the source material for Security Noir II--but that's a story for another time.
And thanks to Thomas Bourke of Herminie, PA for the idea regarding the troubling interaction between walkie-talkies and mechanical devices, and the appearance of the female guard.
Steve Schrum, 5/22/2004
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Steve and Dianna
waving goodbye on the |