Security and Ritual

Clock tower: Yonge and Yorkville, Toronto, Ontario

After the tragic, criminal and deeply sad events in Ottawa on October 22 2014, the Ontario Provincial Police officers who normally maintain a lax and cheerful security presence in the granite halls of Queens Park where I work, were, for about a week, doubled up in numbers and not cheerful. 

The precipitating event was miles away, and within hours shown to be the act of one bad crazy individual having the worst day of his life. But, security was intensified in Queen's Park because, well, we just don't know how far the threat extends....

Edgy, less friendly OPP officers is one thing, I suppose, but I personally don't see any reason to shrink the liberties of the whole population because a deranged and angry young man took a deer rifle with six bullets in it to Canada's Parliament. There are laws enough on the books to address the terrible wasting of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo's life. The young gunman certainly paid the price for his awful intentions.

But, because of the times we live in, these events create a space in the public mind where we openly contemplate making everyone less free for the sake of creating an illusion of security.   

I can say this even though I know that I am utterly ignorant of the terrible threats that surround us. 

I have enough on my mind with the threats I do know about: the annual toll on the roads from people texting while driving; the lives wasted and the costs to society due to drug abuse and an inadequate social safety net; and climate change! Plus vampires!

Anyway. 

Just the other day I performed a small ritual that proves the illusion. 

I was flying to Ottawa. 

The ritual to ward off evil before every flight is to pass through a small archway and not make it beep. To avoid the beep, people unburden themselves of anything metal: men remove their watches and belts; women their jewellery. People also often remove their footwear.

I was wearing a pair of shoes that I'd never travelled in before and, after conferring with the security guard who'd just handed me back my boarding pass, I took them off as a sign of my willingness to not make the archway beep. 

But the archway beeped.

The price of causing a beep is to be wanded by security personnel so that the offending item can be located and removed. Then you have to go back through the arch again.

While I was being wanded, I wondered what might be the offending item.

The wand found something, but, the guard waved me on without making me take anything off or go through the archway again. 

She said, sotto voce, "It's your bra."

Thanks for reading!

Have a great week!

Karen