Security done right…
Back in the early 1960s when I was twenty-something and a brand new copilot with the airlines, I found myself flying with a Captain who was just months away from retiring. We were flying an airplane older than I, and the airplane, like the Captain, was also just a few landings short of retirement; however, unlike the Captain, the airplane would soon find its new home in a junkyard. Captain Pappy Ryan, a legend in his own time as well as in his own mind, and I were climbing out of Bradford, Pennsylvania in the middle of a monstrous snowstorm with sleet and snow sticking to the antennas and their wiring, creating a constant yet rhythmic humming noise. Propellers slinging ice into the side of the airplane, 50 passengers sorry they had left the ground and a crew more worried about the outcome of this flight than most could imagine, kept everyone on edge. Listening to the howling, growling, and the frightening sound of ice balls slamming into the side of an airplane that internally was moaning and groaning, as it did all it could to stay aloft–I was certain things could not get worse. Well I was wrong! Suddenly, as I was attempting to get information from the Cleveland Center, a screeching noise that I had never heard before rang through the airplane with a deafening wail. With only the red glow of the cockpit lights outlining a face housing eyes that had seen too much, yet were full of intense curiosity, I could feel his piercing eyes staring at me, as Pappy, in a voice absent of emotion, said matter-of-factly: “Damn it, kid, if it aint one thing, its two!!” It is now 50 years and 25,000 flying hours later and I have a new place of employment and a new career with completely different challenges—but there is one constant: every day since my first day on the job as Director of Security, a time has come when I think to myself, “Damn, if it’s not one thing, it’s two.” And so it is that Security faces now, as it always will, continuous and unpredictable challenges that are different in both substance and style, and, while it is repetitive, there is a different scenario taking place each and every day. My time as Director of Security began with speeding as the big problem, then it was golf carts, then a rash of car and home break-ins, and then cats topped the list. I have learned to accept the inevitable: if it is not one thing, it will surely be two. The good news is that we have the best Security Officers in the business. I don’t know if it was noticed, but all the problems listed above have taken a hiatus over the last two months, and I think much of the credit has to go to the Security Officers who man the trenches and perform their duties diligently day in and day out. We have learned to expect the person next to us to give his best effort and in return we will do the same; that is what makes us a team and we take pride in what we do. So now we must shift our attention to the assault on our gates, particularly the Thomas Drive Gate. There will always be damage to a gate that is accidental and forgivable, but that is not always the case. Sometimes, in an oblique way, humor and gate damage occupy the same space. A couple of weeks ago, late on a Saturday morning, Patrol Officer Harry Makuffe called me from the Residents Gate and in a pleading voice this former Marine Drill Sergeant said, “Jim, there is a girl here riding a bike; she looks like she is about 6 or 7 year old and she just accidentally knocked the gate arm off the Residents Gate. What do you want me to do?” Well, as a former Marine who once had to put up with nasty Drill Sergeants, I realized at my age this might be my last chance to get revenge or perhaps retribution from a Drill Sergeant, so I shot back: “Give her a $300 ticket for property damage, a $250 ticket for illegal entry, and a $50 dollar ticket for careless and reckless operation of a vehicle!” . . . There was a very long pause . . . For those familiar with the Marine Corps, this may come as a shock but this former Drill Sergeant was at a loss for words. Finally I heard this faint pleading voice say, “But Jim, she is only 6 or 7 years old.” Again I shot back: “In that case, Harry, give her an additional $100 dollar ticket for failure to cooperate.” This was too much for both of us and we began to laugh. In the end, of course, Harry did as Harry always does–the right thing. He made sure the young girl was not hurt and was settled down, then he sent her on her way and bolted the gate back together again. This is, after all, the essence of what Bay Point Security is and should be all about–just doing the right thing.