A Grass Roots Movement?
I propose a movement like the ones that were popular when I was a kid. You might remember them from the 80's too: Boycotts, Bans, Letter writing campaigns Oh My! When I was a kid my church boycotted the local convenient food mart because they sold playboys. It was a big deal. We even had the priest lecturing from the pulpit about the convenient food mart. The movement I propose is a little more appropriate for people of all moral centers: I propose the "What's My Name?" movement. Let me explain....
A few years ago (ok, like 11 years ago), I got my first credit card, and my first debit card. I immediately followed some sage advice and after signing my name very tiny-like on the signature strip, i used a sharpie marker and wrote in big capital letters ASK FOR ID. This has resulted in about 1 in 20 clerks asking for my ID, even today. I am under the assumption that it is far more acceptable to ask and in fact I believe it is commonplace from my experience, that service personnel are trained to ask for ID and yet only 1 in 20. So when that random clerk asks for my ID (and this is usually with a perfunctory attitude and not one of vigilant security) I wait for them to mock-studiously read it and scrutinize my face and then after getting it back I ask "Ok, now What's My Name?" you would be alarmed at how many people never ever get even close. Occasionally I'll get a "......... Charles Akerston" which is (sort of) close... but usually I get a blank stare and a long pause; something like this: "..........................". VERY rarely does the clerk get it right (I mean, go-and-buy-a-lotto-ticket rare).
"But Charles", you might say, "Whats the big deal?" Well dear readers, let me tell you about a little experiment I had this fine evening. I was checking in with the fine folks over at the government agency the TSA* when the following amusing/alarming incident occurred:
As a very frequent traveler I handed my boarding pass and passport (passport mind you, not strange foreign state drivers license) to the first clerk at the airport security line. She studied it and my face, going back and forth, for now less than 45 seconds. After returning my passport and ticket to me she resumed her conversation with the "guard" next to her. I had one of those flashes and thought to myself: "hmmm self, i wonder if my ploy at the local grocery store will get past this highly trained professional TSA security agent?" and so I said to the guard: "So, What's My Name?" She looked at me and laughed and then when she realized i was serious she reached for my ticket (which was firmly in my hand at this point) and when i wouldn't relinquish it and began to walk away (UN ADVISABLY SUSPICIOUS BEHAVIOUR IN RETROSPECT) she looked at me, shrugged and went back to her conversation. A few minutes later as the metal detector guy (at this point i no longer choose to use the term guard) took my (fully legal) 1oz bottle of contact solution away from under the guise of national security I felt far less safe in response to this obviously reactionary knee-jerk action considering what i had just witnessed. If we simply trained the people "guarding" our airways and stopped the foolish foot ware and liquids rules we would be both safer and more expediently moved through the various stages of security.
So I ask you, please, don't wait when you give any person of supposed authority your credentials. Whether at the bank, grocery store, airport, cruise ship etc, GIVE them your ID and then encourage them to actually check it by asking " What's My Name?" I know i'll feel safer and I hope you will too.
The following is a clip from a show called "Chaser's" and is whimsical but it really does show you how silly security rules are when no one seems to be just using their brain!
*don't even get me started on the TSA. I mean how is it possible to have a federal government agency, which should absolutely smack of bureaucracy (the good, same product no matter where you guy, just like at McDonald's kind of bureaucracy) have such different standards from one town and airport to the next.... I never feel less safe then when I am in line at the airport, but more on that later.
let me know what you think.
-Charles
