A couple of months ago I wrote about a questionable little website, set up quietly by the Home Office to persuade young people to carry an ID card.
No matter what your views on ID cards, if you visited mylifemyid you would have seen that most young people who bothered to register don’t think much of the ID proposals, despite the site being dressed up in a cool style that someone thought would appeal to today’s yoof.
Take the teenage talking heads at the top …
“Why did you register?”
“‘Cos identity is really important”
“I want my say on what the Government’s going to do”
Come on. Do the people that put this together really think that this embarrassingly self-conscious treatment is going to get through to kids who have grown up amidst so much transparent government spin that they, quite reasonably, assume they’re being lied to?
People in the security industry, like everyone else, have their own views on the National Identity Register and are, arguably, more inclined to support it than people outside the industry. (While I’m on the subject, make your views known in our online IFSEC poll as this industry’s voice on this subject is an important one, whichever way the vote goes.)
But if you, like me, thought that the mylifemyid site was an underhand way to sell this to 16-24 year olds, you may be shocked to hear that the government’s target market could be as young as 14.
Yes, a government minister has spilled the beans. So what if the 16-24 year olds are too cynical? They can just shave a couple of years off.
Minister Meg Hillier said she was impressed on a visit to Hungary that 14 year olds were carrying ID cards and she pointed out that six year-olds were already fingerprinted for visas.
Hold on a minute. How young do these kids have to be before they’re gullible enough?
No doubt we’ll soon see primary age talking heads on a groovy new pro-ID web site for children – “Idy-in-my-pocket.com”
“Hey what’s that?”
“It’s Idy, my flexi-friend. It’s fun to play with and comes in loadsa wicked styles. I can dress it up in different card holders and I get money off sweets ‘n’ drinks and a free “Idy Fun” comic from the Home Office every month.”
“Wow, cool colours. I want one.”
Talking security blues
What is the most powerful three word combination in business?
No, not “Profits are up” or even “We’re closing down”.
I reckon a good contender for the title would be “It’s said that …”
For instance, it’s said that … the security industry is largely recession-proof.
Some people believe that as the rest of the world goes into economic meltdown the security industry will just keep on growing.
On the face of it, it seems likely the global financial turmoil will bring homelessness, poverty and more crime, more dissatisfaction, more potential public outrages. Inevitably, this will benefit the industry.
But because “it’s said that” the industry largely rode out the last recession it’s assumed it will do so this time.
You only need a few positive reports like this and this to bring about a feeling of recession-proofing.
But this global meltdown is already being described as unprecedented in the history of the universe as we know it, so the last recession may not be such a good yardstick.
Alistair Darling, ironically, has been accused of talking down the economy and it’s possible to talk an industry up or down, and any sector in it.
Despite the latest MBD reports saying the electronic security market will remain “relatively flat” in the short term and hindered by the current slowdown, tighter lending and the construction downturn, the market is expected to return to growth in 2010 to 2012. See the predictions for CCTV and access control.
So amidst all this gloom let’s not talk this industry down. These MBD predictions are nowhere near as life-changingly drastic as those many other industries will suffer.
Hey I’m unbalanced
Other industry reports, notably from Plimsoll, predict job losses in installation. You may now be hanging on to your job as colleagues have been cut or not replaced and still being thankful for it – even if you’re doing twice your usual workload.
As “work – life balance” becomes a meaningless phrase from the past, I have also noticed a distinct drying up of press releases from those so-called ‘life coaches’ and business consultants who preached it. They wouldn’t get much of a hearing in this climate.
As finance directors have tightened company belts, these consultants would be among the first to feel the result. Are they now having to re-balance their lives by finding a real job?
It doesn’t matter in the dark
The security industry is not the only sector that might not do too badly through the current adversity. Travelodge is seeing a 45 per cent year on year increase in revenue from business travellers.
Of course, it’s all down to companies looking to make savings.
However, I thought the comment from the Travelodge MD that “all hotel rooms looking the same when the lights are turned off” came across as a less than fulsome endorsement – even if it’s true. And what about those execs who sleep with the light on?
Shadowed conference
All this turmoil has rather overshadowed the shadow cabinet. The Tory conference, which a month ago when the government was on its knees would have grabbed every headline, is taking second place in the news agenda.
An announcement from shadow home secretary Dominic Grieve received relatively little coverage despite its significance in redressing an appalling situation in the fight against crime.
He wants to put a stop to situations where ‘have a go’ heroes or just fair minded citizens who intervene in a crime are themselves apprehended, locked up or charged under our crazy legal system.
There’s nothing more guaranteed to make the police seem the heavy handed arm of a politically correct state than to see them arrest someone who had the guts to stop some lout trashing their community or picking on a defenceless victim.
The sooner this is changed the sooner the police will be seen to be public servants carrying out a service on our behalf and not the state’s.
A real hero
Legislation to support public spirited citizens will be too late to make any difference in the appalling case reported today of the businessman in Norwich who died after trying to stop a gang of ten picking on a couple.
Forget our overpaid celebrity sportsmen, sadly it’s people like him who are the real heroes. In the current climate of questionable legal support and with the high likelihood of coming off badly, it takes an overwhelming courage and strong sense of right and wrong to intervene in something like this.
Even supporters of the worse type of criminal scum would agree that deep down we all know the difference between right and wrong. Unfortunately our crazy society has turned most of us into wary cowards, afraid to intervene when every instinct tells us we should.
Let’s hope Dominic Grieve’s proposal starts to turn around such craziness.
On a miserable note
Being miserable keeps a lot of people going. Apparently the credit crunch is also having an effect on our musical tastes.
According to the entertainment website, TheFilter, there is now a dramatic rise in the liking of “depressing music”.
People listening to gloomy music or rating the tracks as positive have soared.
Number one Most Popular Depressing Song is ‘Tears Dry on Their Own’ by Amy Winehouse, followed by the Beatles with ‘Eleanor Rigby’, The Smiths with ‘Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now’ and Coldplay’s ‘Trouble’.
See the rest of the list here.
My contender would be ‘One’ by Harry Nilsson or anything by Leonard Cohen, if you can bear it.
What’s yours? Maybe if we get a Miserable Songs List going we could get them up on our website along with our Songs about Security.
While most of those are pretty miserable they are balanced out with some bouncy little ditties such as ‘My Camera Never Lies’ by Bucks Fizz.
It’s said that if you play this enough the economy won’t be doomed so why not try it?