Smiling for the camera

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: Alexandros Papadopoulos <apapadop () alumni cmu edu>
Date: Tue, 15 Mar 2005 22:27:10 +0200
To: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Subject: Smiling for the camera

Greetings Dave!

I recently visited the small town of Colchester, UK. While having lunch
in a local pub, I was looking at the two CCTV cameras that were
recording me at all times. Nothing out of the ordinary there, I
reckoned (but how much have we grown to accept constant surveillance!).

What happened midway through lunch intrigued me. A company of three or
four entered the establishment and sought a table. They were promptly
approached by a member of the staff, who told them that they had to
take off their hats (baseball cap style). When I asked my English
friends why, they replied that the cameras might not be able to clearly
record their faces.

That reminded me of a section on clothing rules that was applied to some
school in the US, mentioned in "Bowling for Columbine". There was a kid
that was dressed normally, and that allowed him to carry a small
arsenal with him. The point was that one should not allow youths to
dress as they wish.

How did we come to this point? We live in a society that has accepted so
many restrictions for no good cause. The potential murderer/robber will
not take off his/her hat on entering the pub. Why apply such ridiculous
restrictions on everyone? (the case for not having a camera there in
the first place has already been completely lost, hence I'm not
debating that)

Regards from the other end of an Orwellian society

-A

------ End of Forwarded Message


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