Problem with the society today is we don’t respect authorities anymore – police officers, traffic enforcers, and even the security guards.
The job of security guards can be said as “thankless” yet their responsibilities are serious, and they are among the underpaid ones. They are often taken for granted until only something significant happens. Especially in the Philippines, security guards at the malls and at the metro rail stations are known mainly for searching our bags for some ‘unidentified’ objects. But we are forgetting, in times of emergencies, they are one of the firsts to respond. Guards also have the power to arrest suspects, detain them until the police come.
But they get no respect.
One of my favorite Filipino authors of recent, Alex Lacson, said in his book 12 Little Things Every Filipino Can Do to Help Our Country, “Respect your traffic officer, policeman, soldier, and other public servants.”
Respect is a mark of most profound education. Respect is intellectual. Respect is more than just being kind to the person. Respect gives a positive feeling of regard. It empowers and makes the recipient proud. It gives honor to them and to the work they do.
If you are educated, you don’t just berate security officers, regardless of who started the fire.
One Guarded Moment
While I meant respect, I’m also aware that some of them commits a mistake and at times doing their jobs wrong – just like any of us as well.
Back in high school, I was accused of shoplifting by a security guard – and he humiliated me publicly at the center of SM Southmall.
I went to National Bookstore to look for a songbook. I was carrying my guitar. I tried to leave it at the baggage deposit counter but the attendant asked me to just take it with me inside the store because it’s too bulky for the baggage racks.
I spent some time looking for the right songbook but I found none. I decided to leave National Bookstore and look somewhere else. As I walked past about 2 minutes, a security guard of National Bookstore approached me, asking me where I hid and kept the songbook I “stole” from the store.
What a freak! And he’s speaking in a high voice. He grabbed my guitar, looked into the hole, and shook it because he suspected that I put the songbook inside. People are looking at us. Imagine the humiliation? The mall security guard inspecting your guitar and your pockets in the middle of the crowd…
Foul! I said why the hell he suspected me, and he religiously followed me until I reach Storyland. Apparently, he was keenly watching me from the time I entered National Bookstore until I left. Of all people, suspecting me? National B.S.
He asked me to go back to National Bookstore to discuss his accusation further with the management. He kept on shaking my guitar and my waist for a suspected stolen songbook. Before we reach, he was convinced that no songbook was stolen. He just left and let me go.
I was upset. I did no Amalayer. I was just an innocent 15 at that time.
I told my parents about it (who’s also at the mall). We checked on the guard at National Bookstore and call the management. My dad confronted them civilly, saying what the guard did was totally wrong and unacceptable at all. All the management and the guard said… Amasorry.
This and other minor incidents with security guards contribute to how I regard them. But just like us, they also commit mistakes. But that doesn’t mean we have to be rude at them too. What’s the point? As writer Eric Hoffer said, “rudeness is the weak man’s imitation of strength.”
And I say, no rude man lessens stupidity, no matter how wrong or right he is.