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My Salute to forgotten soles
The Weekend 0000-0800 Officer:
It is 0245 on a Sunday morning.
You are on the second round of a six story
building with 75 Detex Keys.
Some of these keys are blocked by
boxes, or underneath pipes, or
in stinky bathrooms
You are protecting assets, plant and
equipment worth millions, and the
jobs of 150 employees
The plant is far removed from civilization
Your 2 miles from the nearest home,
and a mile from the nearest store,
the next factory 500 yards away
You are in a factory where it is summer
and the building still holds the heat of
the day. Or it being the weekend
and it is winter, the heat is turned
down to 50 degrees, and is very cold
in the building.
The pipes clank as you walk through
the building. The floors creek. You are
startled by the boilers in the basement
as it kicks on. Although the machines
used in production are off, it is though
they talk to you.
You fight to stay awake. You are exhausted.
But you are too professional as a Security
Officer to quit.
You check the corporate offices. All is secure,
although some corporate boss has left
his door unlocked with his laptop on his
desk. You cuss, knowing he makes far
more money then you can dream of,
and he does not have the sense to
lock his door.
You head for the cafeteria. The coffee
in the machine is 3 days old, and stale.
Your hungry, you put 75 cents in the
candy machine, and you never see
your Milky Way bar.You bring a lunch,
and the micro-wave hasn't been cleaned
in a week.
As you sit at your desk in the lobby
a car full of kids whizzes in and out
of the company parking lot, taunting you.
The alarm at the chocolate factory sounds
at 0255 hours. You call the on duty maintenace
man. He lets you know he is not too pleased
calling him at this hour. although your only
doing your job. He will be in about an hour.
A tractor trailer truck pulls up to your site
at 0300 with no fore-warning from the
receiving clerk. After spending 20 minutes
on the phone, you allow the load to be
dropped off.
You head outside to check the peremitter
If it is winter, it is bitter cold. The parking lots
are covered in ice. Those kids continue whizzing in and
out of the parking lot still. Remeber your
alone.
You return to your post, and see it is the
a newspaper, ah some thing to read,
you realize it is a 4 day old paper.
It is 0400 and off in the distance, the
the sky starts to dance with lightning
and the rumble of thunder. You hope
and pray that the power stays on
because the flashlight you were
provided by the client has dead batteries.
It is 0645. You are exahausted. You are
startled by the ringing of the phone. It
is Peter who does the 0800-1600 shift.
He has a tummy ache and can't come
in. You call the field supervisor. It
being a nice summer day, at least
3 other Guards have called in sick,
and you have to stay till noon
Mr. or Ms. Security Officer, here is a salute
to those Professional Security Officers
who work the 0000-0800 shifts.
The Weekend 0000-0800 Officer:
It is 0245 on a Sunday morning.
You are on the second round of a six story
building with 75 Detex Keys.
Some of these keys are blocked by
boxes, or underneath pipes, or
in stinky bathrooms
You are protecting assets, plant and
equipment worth millions, and the
jobs of 150 employees
The plant is far removed from civilization
Your 2 miles from the nearest home,
and a mile from the nearest store,
the next factory 500 yards away
You are in a factory where it is summer
and the building still holds the heat of
the day. Or it being the weekend
and it is winter, the heat is turned
down to 50 degrees, and is very cold
in the building.
The pipes clank as you walk through
the building. The floors creek. You are
startled by the boilers in the basement
as it kicks on. Although the machines
used in production are off, it is though
they talk to you.
You fight to stay awake. You are exhausted.
But you are too professional as a Security
Officer to quit.
You check the corporate offices. All is secure,
although some corporate boss has left
his door unlocked with his laptop on his
desk. You cuss, knowing he makes far
more money then you can dream of,
and he does not have the sense to
lock his door.
You head for the cafeteria. The coffee
in the machine is 3 days old, and stale.
Your hungry, you put 75 cents in the
candy machine, and you never see
your Milky Way bar.You bring a lunch,
and the micro-wave hasn't been cleaned
in a week.
As you sit at your desk in the lobby
a car full of kids whizzes in and out
of the company parking lot, taunting you.
The alarm at the chocolate factory sounds
at 0255 hours. You call the on duty maintenace
man. He lets you know he is not too pleased
calling him at this hour. although your only
doing your job. He will be in about an hour.
A tractor trailer truck pulls up to your site
at 0300 with no fore-warning from the
receiving clerk. After spending 20 minutes
on the phone, you allow the load to be
dropped off.
You head outside to check the peremitter
If it is winter, it is bitter cold. The parking lots
are covered in ice. Those kids continue whizzing in and
out of the parking lot still. Remeber your
alone.
You return to your post, and see it is the
a newspaper, ah some thing to read,
you realize it is a 4 day old paper.
It is 0400 and off in the distance, the
the sky starts to dance with lightning
and the rumble of thunder. You hope
and pray that the power stays on
because the flashlight you were
provided by the client has dead batteries.
It is 0645. You are exahausted. You are
startled by the ringing of the phone. It
is Peter who does the 0800-1600 shift.
He has a tummy ache and can't come
in. You call the field supervisor. It
being a nice summer day, at least
3 other Guards have called in sick,
and you have to stay till noon
Mr. or Ms. Security Officer, here is a salute
to those Professional Security Officers
who work the 0000-0800 shifts.
I wouldn't even get out of bed for a 8 hour shift. 
I do 12 hour shifts, 6pm-6am. 
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