Security

the impossible dream

photo credit: Barb miller

Some people ride around on bikes with no crash helmets and never come to any harm. Some people lock every gate and hide the key and the horses still get out.

I used to be a gate locker, but realized early on that I could never predict exactly what would go wrong, such as a horse getting a hoof stuck in a fence. Even after an unlikely accident happened I realized I could not have prevented it.

It’s a matter of chance really. Of the thousands of things that can go wrong I can maybe take care of ten of them. What goes wrong will always be a surprise. Even having such unlikely fix-it materials in my car as: coat hanger to tie up muffler, duck tape for loose bumpers, bungee cords in case the hatchback won’t close. These respond to imaginable problems, not the endless possibilities for the real world.

So why struggle to lock all gates, check the fences, lock the cars. Especially now that I have the most steal-able car in America. We do it on the odd chance we might prevent some disaster or at least slow it down. And to avoid guilt. After all, locking your car is basic even if there are ten ways for someone to steal it, so you do your best. But none of us can dodge asteroids.

Prompt. Write about a full-proof security measure and then write about how a character gets around it or how someone else gets around it to victimize the character.